Every season, with the sun and the Film Festival from Cannes, begins for the very wealthy tourists: inside and their luxury watches the transhumance to the Côte d’Azur. This attracts highly specialized and very well organized thief: inside. A special challenge to face the authorities.
On Saturday the thief won: the game of cat and mouse in the inside by stole a watch worth over 100,000 euros from a passerby in Cannes. On the other hand, five people were arrested on May 2 after trying to steal a Richard Mille worth 600,000 euros in the immediate vicinity of the Croisette.
According to the Grasse public prosecutor’s office, more than a dozen thefts have been registered in Cannes since April 1st or thefts of this kind. In 2023 there were 38 and in 2024 32, mainly between May and September.
The thief: Inside, they also mischief in Saint-Tropez or near Monaco before they follow the great fortune to Paris, London, Barcelona, Geneva or Munich.
In 2024, the prey was estimated in the Alpes-Maritimes, which included both dread thefts as well as burglaries and other Fric fracs, on 301 watches with a value of 8.3 million euros, after 275 o’clock and 6.9 million euros in 2023.
Damien Savarzeix, public prosecutor of Grasse, confirmed to the AFP that “the heart of the reactor is the city center of Cannes”. There are two types of thief: inside.
The locals who are going to act when the opportunity is offered, like a: e Rolex wearer: In, the tips of the tips come from a night club. Or much better organized groups, mostly from Naples, which are aimed at watches worth over 100,000 euros, with a sophisticated approach.
Physiognomist: Inside, discover a valuable watch on the wrist of a passerby: in. Then steal a: e thief: in them – secret or violent – and jumps onto a two -wheeler with a fake license plate, which was previously brought with a delivery van and was driven by a/a accomplice: at high speed.
Investment
Even if Cannes or Saint-Tropez have security plans to control the default roads, “it is very, very quickly”, explains Eric Antonetti, head of the Alpes-Maritimes criminal police. On May 1st, the police could not intercept a motorcycle on May 1, which after the theft of a Patek Philippe in dense traffic.
According to the prefecture, the aim of the authorities is to neutralize one of the upstream connections. Urban video surveillance centers, police officers: on -site, private security personnel from hotels, beach operators: inside – they are all used to recognize suspicious behavior.
In order to fight the fragmentation of the responsibilities between the police, gendarmerie and various public prosecutors in areas that are roamed by the same criminal groups, meet a specialized liaison every week in Nice this year. Cooperation with the Italian, Swiss, German or Spanish authorities is also reinforced.
The case of the Qatar Prince proves that this can work: a suspicious scooter that was discovered the previous day, information from Italy and Switzerland, intensive surveillance before attempted theft and subsequent controls at the outputs of the city center made it possible to arrest all alleged members of the gang.
The Neapolitan: Inside, aged 32 to 44, which are known elsewhere in Europe for similar acts in Europe, are to be brought to trial in Grasse on July 11th and risk several years in prison.
Thierry Migoule, cabinet director of the Mayor of Cannes, warns: “We do not scream victory, it is only a battle won, because we are dealing with well -structured, quite agile networks that will adapt.”
Especially since the market for used luxury watches flourishes, boosted by the long waiting lists for the rarest models. The clock of the Qatar Prince, which was targeted at the beginning of May, was almost twice as expensive as its new price of 350,000 euros.
In order to bring a stolen watch back into the legal circulation, the most sophisticated networks are able to fake the serial numbers and deliver the necessary boxes and fake certificates.
For less demanding buyers: Inside, a luxury watch is “an extremely interesting value”, emphasizes Damien Martinelli, public prosecutor of Nice, and refers to the example of a drug dealer who was on the run with a suitcase full of watches, which he gradually sold. (AFP)
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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