I-Team Investigation: Robbery on the Rails

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) Freight trains traveling through the Coachella Valley are increasingly becoming targets for organized theft crews, according to investigators and an undercover Union Pacific Railroad Police agent who spoke exclusively with the News Channel 3 I-Team.

The investigation, “Robbery on the Rails,” focuses on crimes happening along rail lines stretching through Coachella, Mecca and North Shore.

Investigators say thieves target slowed or stopped trains carrying retail merchandise, tools, electronics and even firearms.

The I-Team also obtained exclusive video connected to a recent weedwacker theft in the Mecca area and rode along with undercover investigators working active train burglary operations in the desert.

The investigation examines the March train derailment near North Shore, where investigators say thieves stole more than $1 million worth of cargo after containers were left exposed near the tracks.

“Robbery on the Rails” airs Thursday at 6 p.m. only on News Channel 3.