Last Friday, the National Police arrested a 35-year-old Italian in connection with the theft of two high-end watches - one valued at 125,000 euros and the other at 40,000. A Palma court has now ordered him to be detained in custody.
The first theft took place on August 11 at around 11.15 pm in El Molinar. A man was walking with his family when a motorcycle with two people approached them. While one of the two waited with the motorcycle running, the other violently snatched a watch from the man's wrist. He then got back on the motorcycle and they sped off.
On August 14 at 10.35 pm, a watch was snatched from a man who was returning with his family to their car in the area of the Jaume III avenue.
The National Police identified one of the two and discovered that he planned to leave the island by plane. He was arrested at the airport and appeared in court on Saturday.
The nature of the thefts is a familiar one and in keeping with gangs from Naples which focus their activities on places such as Andratx, Calvia and Palma in Mallorca as well as Ibiza and parts of the Spanish mainland.
The thieves typically travel with false documentation, stay for a very short time, commit the crimes and swiftly leave the island.