Five Arrested and Charged in $37M Fremont Computer-Chip Heist

In the largest recovery of stolen property in the Bay Area, five men have been arrested and charged in the a , the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office reported today.

The arrestees–Jesus Meraz Jr., 25, San Jose; Dylan Catayas Lee, 32, San Jose; Rolando McKay Secreto, 38, San Jose; Leonard Abriam, 31, San Jose; and Pierre Ramos, 28, Union City–allegedly entered a Unigen, Inc. computer-chip warehouse in Fremont on Feb. 27, 2011, bound Unigen employees at gun-point and then forced them to a back room. Then the masked robbers loaded the chips, which at the time were valued at $27 million, into a large truck and left the scene.

"We know that in this robbery, there were an excess of 15 suspects involved in the robbery," Sterner said, who explained that since it's still an ongoing investigation that there are a lot of details they can't reveal. "There is still a large number of individuals out there who we need to identify and arrest."

According to District Attorney Jeff Rosen, the stolen chips were intended for sale in Asia. But through efforts between the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) and the Department of Homeland Security, law enforcement has recovered 98 percent of the chips, some locally and some overseas, explained Michael Sterner, REACT director.

Manufactured by Intel, the computer-chips were delivered to Unigen so that they could be assembled onto a circuit board and then sent to , the intended recipient and end-user. According to Sterner, the chips were not for personal computer use.

Google has no comment, a spokesperson said. 

The suspects have been charged with armed robbery, kidnapping for robbery and excessive taking of property for their involvement.