Irvine Computer Chip Heist Is Biggest in U.S. : Crime: About a dozen well-dressed thieves take off with at least $5 million in components from Centon Electronics.
More than a dozen well-dressed robbers took at least $5 million in computer chips and memory boards in a daring heist at an Irvine electronics distributor in what was described by authorities on Wednesday as the largest robbery of its kind in the nation.
Police believe the thousands of chips stolen Tuesday night will end up in the so-called “gray market,” a worldwide arena where chips and other sophisticated computer components are sold.
In the robbery, as many as 13 men dressed in sport coats and ties drove to the company in a small rental truck and two cars, forced their way inside and held three employees of Centon Electronics Inc. at gunpoint and took many boxes filled with the computer chips, Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato said.
Though no one was injured in the 8:30 p.m. robbery, the employees, a woman and two men, were upset after being ordered to lie face down on the floor while the robbers grabbed the chips that have become more valuable than gold by weight.
Estimates of the amount stolen are expected to soar, possibly to $12 million, said police, who are awaiting results of a company inventory.
The amount taken is believed to be the largest armed theft of computer chips in U.S. history, according to the FBI.
“In the way of volume, that represents the largest armed theft so far,” said David Miller of the FBI’s Portland, Ore., office.
In 1993, the bureau investigated a theft of $3.4 million worth of computer chips from a semiconductor plant in Oregon, which at that time represented the largest theft, Miller said.
“The amount of loss will go up considerably,” Allevato said of Tuesday’s robbery. He said the initial assessment of $5 million was done hastily by one group of company employees immediately after the robbery.
Centon officials could not be reached for comment.
Centon Electronics Inc. is a privately held computer components company with 180 employees that was founded in 1978. Last year, it reported sales of $144 million.
Details of the robbery remain sketchy, but the robbers’ planning, including use of weapons and knowledge of inventory, fit an increasingly common pattern for chip thefts, officials said.
Up to now, most of the major thefts have occurred at Silicon Valley companies, which have reported 45 robberies since January.
The chips’ portability makes this a “very popular crime at this time,” said Allevato, who suspects this is fast becoming the crime of choice among some gangs.
According to police, the men, described as Asian, ages 20 to 25, confronted the three employees outside the building as they were leaving.
The men then ordered the employees in English to open up the warehouse and go back inside and lie down, Allevato said.
“They were very well-dressed, which is unusual for robbers,” Allevato said.
One employee was forced to unlock the warehouse containing computer chips and memory boards. The employees were then ordered to the ground and bound with duct tape. The employees, who managed to free themselves nearly an hour later, told police they heard a truck or a van pull up to the warehouse loading door.
No security guard was on the premises and the robbers fled about 10 minutes after disabling security cameras that were mounted outside the building, police said.
The components varied from 1-megabyte chip capacity up to 32-megabyte modules, making the haul even more valuable because the greater memory storage capacity for the chips means a higher resale value for the thieves.
Industry sources said that a 4-megabyte chip retails for $150 to $200. A 32-megabyte module sells for at least $1,200.
In a recent segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” computer component theft was described as “better loot than gold, guns or heroin.” In addition, the show quoted a San Quentin inmate as saying that the biggest chip, the Pentium, is only about 1 1/4-inch square, yet retails for $600.
In the late 1980s, Santa Clara investigators believed high-tech robberies were inside jobs, but now investigators said the majority of the robberies are done by outsiders. Typically, robbers will watch a company from 24 to 48 hours in advance to map out strategies and pinpoint the prime time to strike, said Mark Kerby, formerly assigned to the Santa Clara Police Department’s high-tech crime unit and now the department’s information officer.
“The main thrust of our crime prevention of high-tech robbery invasion is heightening the awareness of employers and employees of their surroundings,” Kerby said. “Companies should watch for guys that hang around for various days or hours.
“I would attribute the recent increase in this crime,” Kerby said, “to the low-risk, high-gain copycat mentality, where one group of crooks gets away with it, other crooks see the relative ease and go after the big picture,”
Officials said it is common for stolen computer chips to end up on the gray market, which may include legitimate businesses in the United States and abroad.
With such a large number of robbers involved in Tuesday’s theft, Kerby said he believes organized crime might be behind the heist.
“When it gets up to that quantity [10 to 13 robbers], the robbery is tied to organized crime, an organized effort on the part of multiple suspects,” Kerby said. “That could be something as simple as Asian street gangs or as sophisticated as being influenced by Asian Triads, which are like gangs but on a much broader, international scale.”
The robbers have most assuredly gotten rid of the chips by now, Kerby said. High-tech components change hands eight to 10 times in the market within the first 24 hours.
“We call high-tech components the gold of the ‘90s because there is no way to track them,” Kerby said. “When you think about it, it’s better than gold because there is not much gold out there, and better than currency because no serial numbers are on the chips.”
Times staff writers Thao Hua and Ross Kerber contributed to this report.
* MORE VALUABLE THAN GOLD: O.C. heist is the latest and largest in a growing trend. D1
