Seventeen people from the metro Detroit area are charged in connection to a series of smash-and-grab robberies across the country.

Federal investigators announced charges Friday morning (February 27) after investigations involving about 40 smash-and-grab robberies in 2014.

According to the indictments, crews from the metro Detroit area carried out six robberies. They are accused of traveling across the country to jewelry stores, smashing Rolex display cases with sledge hammers and making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

“It creates a risk of violence that’s intolerable in our community for the kind of quality of life that we want, and so we’re doing all we can to stop it. If we can’t stop them from coming in we’re going to stop them from going out and being free in the community,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

A reward of up to $45,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of other people connected to these robberies.