Train heists aren't just a thing of the Old West. A series of brazen train robberies has emerged across the western United States and authorities say the thieves focus on high-value containers.

Thieves have targeted freight trains running through the deserts of California and Arizona in a string of audacious heists resulting in the theft of more than $2 million worth of new Nike sneakers, including many that haven’t hit the retail market yet,

Train robbers have stolen over $2 million in rare sneakers over the past year. The most recent robbery saw thieves throwing boxes onto the side of the road to pick up later. Sneakers have become increasingly collectible, with one pair of Air Jordans going for more than $2 million two years ago.

Last year, stolen pairs of the then-unreleased Air Jordan 11 "Legend Blue" worth more than $200,000 were recovered after allegedly being stolen from a train in California. That headline is just the tip of the iceberg of a heist syndicate targeting Nike sneakers,