The Prosecutor's Office is demanding sentences totalling 49 years for six people accused with the theft of luxury watches.
The six, five men (Algerian, Moroccan, French and Swiss) and a Spanish woman, aged between 19 and 34, arrived in Palma from Barcelona in March this year. They stayed in different hotels in the city in order not to draw attention to themselves as a gang.
They are charged with four crimes which resulted in the theft of watches with a total value of over 170,000 euros.
The six had specific functions - monitoring and selecting targets and then carrying out the thefts. The first was on March 17. Four of the accused were involved with using violence in snatching a Hublot Big Bang Evolution valued at 11,265 euros from a German tourist. Almost a month later, on April 16, one of the six, who was on a scooter, grabbed the target from behind and stole a Jaeger-LeCoultre worth 12,200 euros.
The two later thefts were of watches with far higher values. On April 20, an Audemars Piguet, valued at 100,000 euros, was stolen from a French tourist. Eight days later, all six participated in stealing a Rolex worth 50,000 euros from a woman in the Paseo Mallorca car park.
The National Police arrested them at a hotel in Playa de Palma some hours after the fourth robbery and were able to recover the Rolex, which was returned to its owner.