10 July 2024 , 14:48
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Two British men and a Frenchman have been arrested on suspicion of robbery after a valuable watch was stolen in Ibiza.
The victim was robbed of his watch, worth £105,000, as he left a bar in a ‘high end’ area of the Balearic Island’s capital on Thursday, June 4.
He told police the attackers cut his wrist so they could pull the watch off him.
Police arrested three men, one British and one French, on suspicion of belonging to a criminal gang, robbery, and forgery – as one of the suspected is accused of using stolen ID.
During the arrests, officers also found radio frequency signal jammers and car tracking devices.
Designer watch muggings are not infrequent in Ibiza, but they’re usually the work of Italian, Moroccan or eastern European gangs, it’s understood.
The arrests took place on Sunday, three days after the theft, but the details had not been made public until now.
A spokesperson for the force said: ‘National Police officers in Ibiza, from the UDEV unit which specialists in tackling specialised and violent crime, have arrested two British men and a Frenchman aged 34, 23, and 21, on suspicion of belonging to a criminal gang, robbery and forgery.
‘The incident that led to their arrests last Sunday occurred on Thursday July 4 when a robbery victim reported the theft of a watch worth £105,000.
‘The tourist said he had surrounded by a group of people of North African origin as he left a bar and they had cut his wrist to take the watch.
‘During the arrest operation a large amount of equipment used for the commission of these types of crimes, such as frequency signal jammers and car tracking devices were seized.
‘The watch has not yet been recovered and the police investigation is continuing.’
Last month DJ Franky Wah appealed for help after being robbed of ‘irreplaceable valuables’ in Ibiza.
He said criminals broke into his car outside a restaurant in the village of Jesus and took ‘everything’ inside including his music and laptop, offering a reward for their return.
Days earlier Sampdoria footballer Cristiano Piccini had his luxury watch stolen in Ibiza by motorbike muggers who tried to run him and his wife over in front of their children in broad daylight.