Thieves Hit Taiwan's UTC For $5M In DRAMs [SHORTAGE COMING:-)]
(10:45 a.m. EST, 2/3/98)
By Sandy Chen
Five alleged gangsters in Hsinshu, Taiwan, on Tuesday held up a truck driver at gunpoint and stole $5 million worth of memory chips that were headed to United Test Center (UTC) Inc., one of Taiwan's largest IC test houses, according to local police officials.
The UTC truck carrying about 200 boxes of memory chips was en route to a bonded warehouse owned by Hsinchu-based UTC in the Hsinchu Science-Based Park when the five alleged gang members stopped the driver at gunpoint late Monday morning, police officials said.
Gang members, who were driving a Ford sedan with what was decribed by local police as "a warning light"' on the roof, kidnapped the driver and stole the truck, police said. The truck was actually owned and operated by a local transport company called Famous Express Co. Ltd., they added.
Gang members then drove the stolen truck just outside the science park, where they released the truck driver without harm. However, they kept the stolen truck and its contents, including the memory chips, police added.
UTC has notified its customers about the robbery and claimed the memory chips were insured. Police are still investigating the incident |
