Using a ruse, a gang of 20 heavily armed thieves raided a Samsung factory in Campinas city in São Paulo State in the country's Southeast Region.

The robbery on the evening of July 7 is being referred to as one of the most daring robberies in Brazil's version of Silicon Valley that is being hit by a wave of cargo thefts.

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The civil police of São Paulo said the gang made away with over 40,000 Samsung smartphones of various models and tablet computers that they loaded onto a fleet of waiting trucks. They said the value of the stolen digital devices could amount to US$6.3 million.

Samsung, however, said it was still determining exactly how much money it lost in the attack. It said it was very worried about the incident but said none of its employees were hurt.

At the start of the robbery, the gang first took hostage eight Samsung employees traveling in a company bus before midnight. They stole the workers' IDs and took two of the workers hostage. The other six employees were taken to an unknown location.

Once inside the factory gate, the gang subdued the security guards and took their weapons. They then ordered the guards to pretend as if nothing had happened.

The gang spent the next three hours looting the factory and loaded the stolen electronic devices on seven trucks.

Police said some 20 robbers took part in the brazen robbery. They also believe the robbers had an inside man that tipped them off about the plant's security and worker routine.

"We are fully cooperating with the ongoing police investigation and we will do our best to prevent this happening again," Samsung said in a statement.

The robbery is the latest in a string of large scale thefts in Brazil's Silicon Valley. Police said cargo thefts jumped from 425 in 2012 to 657 in 2013. Campinas is home to multinational technology companies such as General Electric, Hewlett Packard and Dell.

TagsSamsung factory, robbed