Robbers Net $300,000 in Computer Chips : Crime: Gunmen tied up company owner and two family members in a type of theft that has become common in the county.

Gun-toting robbers forced their way into a local electronics assembly plant and tied up three people before fleeing with computer chips worth an estimated $300,500, police said Friday.

At least two men fought their way into Stracon Inc. at 5212 Bolsa Ave. Thursday evening as the owner and his family were trying to close for the night. One of the intruders was armed with a .45-caliber pistol, said Sgt. Tony Sollecito.

Son Than Pham, 40, of Westminster, who owns Stracon, told police that someone knocked at the back door shortly after 7 p.m. and called out his name. When he unlocked the rear entrance to see who was there, the men pushed their way inside.

According to police, Pham was overpowered after a short struggle, then he, his wife and daughter were tied up and their heads covered with aprons.

Sollecito said perhaps as many as four robbers helped themselves to cartons of computer chips with the word “micron” stenciled on the sides. The family managed to free themselves about 15 minutes after the men fled. No injuries were reported.

Computer chip thefts similar to the Stracon robbery have become common in Orange County over the last several years. A number of crime rings based in the Southeast Asian community have been under investigation by federal and local authorities for stealing millions of dollars worth of computer chips from high-tech companies and selling them on the international black market.

The groups operate mostly out of Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, according to investigators. But robberies as far east as Phoenix and as far north as the Silicon Valley have been linked to the gangs.

Authorities say the bandits, usually in groups of four or five, have carried out highly organized, paramilitary-type missions against some of California’s best-known computer firms. Once inside the buildings, employees are tied up and death threats are made to keep them from cooperating with police.