Shocking moment Ibiza tourist has £430,000 Rolex swiped from wrist in SECONDS as underworld of gang targeting tourists is exposed – The Sun

THIS is the shocking moment a tourist in Ibiza has a watch worth €500,000 (£430,000) stolen from his wrist.

Zara McDermott’s new BBC show Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island has revealed how gangs targeting watches take just seconds to grab a timepiece.

Zara, 27, is no stranger to holidays on the island, having visited many times, including as a social media influencer.

After showing the glitz and glamor of life in Ibiza, she now reveals the dark side of the island, including its criminal underbelly.

The idyllic island popular with British tourists looking for a good time has developed a problem with watch crime.

Spanish police show Zara how a €500,000 Richard Mille watch was stolen from the arm of a man in a Rolls Royce.

An undercover officer plays CCTV footage of a man wearing a motorcycle helmet walking past the Phantom containing the watch.

He then returns to the motorcycle with the window down, reaches in, and after a quick struggle, rips the watch off the man’s arm and jumps on the back of a motorcycle.

Zara says the crime happened so quickly while the cop said it only took three seconds.

The officer says: “They know when he leaves the hotel that this man has this watch on his wrist.

‘Three seconds, half a million euros, it’s a great thing. These gangs came here just to do this. Quick money.

Police later arrested the gang and recovered cash, mobile phones and the motorcycle helmets.

“We have more (stealing) and more because of rich people,” said a police officer.

One evening in early June, police find a tourist on the strip with a €10,000 (£8,600) Rolex snatched from his hand.

The man describes how a man comes up to him, grabs his arm and then pulls the watch off before he can respond.

Zara says: “It feels like a pretty public place to steal someone’s watch.”

Police say he was allegedly followed and attacked because he was drunk and because he was wearing a VIP wristband.

“It’s not something informal,” the officer replies.

“Gangs come here and commit these types of robberies.”

Zara meets Marcus, a Brit who runs a private security company in Ibiza, who explains how the crime outfits work.

Marcus says that the crime at street level is sophisticated and that the gangs are the Neapolitan mafia who come to the island specifically to steal.

He says: ‘Some gangs who come here stay in four- and five-star hotels for two months.

“Those are work costs that need to be covered before they start putting money in their pockets.”

Marcus says senior members of the gangs can be seen in the VIP areas of the clubs and can spend €40,000 a night on parties.

“They party with the money they made stealing from the people around them in VIP.”

Marcus says that when an expensive watch is spotted, one gang member will follow them out of the club, while another will then follow them back to their house.

The thieves then break into the house, steal the watch and then put it on the black market in wealthy cities like Dubai.