Dark side of Ibiza

From drugs to targeted theft Zara McDermott uncovers shocking secrets of the infamous party island

- MARK JEFFERIES

IT'S late at night and Ibiza's streets are heaving with clubbers, but Zara McDermott is in no mood to party.

The Love Islander feels surrounded by menace. With just four police officers on duty at Playa D'en Bossa, the Spanish island's party heartland, the crowd of around 30,000 holidaymakers feels more sinister than social.

Zara, 27, has come to the island where she once partied to make a documentary about its darker side, as wealthy partygoers have attracted drug dealers and organised crime gangs.

Shadowing Guardia Civil officers for Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island, she soon comes across frightening scenes.

The officers rush to the scene of a Rolex watch theft - it's a common event on the island as criminals can net thousands of euros in seconds from one wealthy victim.

Zara says: "It was shocking when it happened.

"We got the call and we were there within a minute on the strip. I felt so sorry for this guy, he had been on his phone to his wife and a guy had taken the watch. He tried to run after him and fell over.

"He was quite shaken up.

"Standing on that exact spot where there had been gangs watching people and looking at their jewellery, it felt quite eerie, you never know who else is being targeted or watched."

"It was so eye-opening and having been to the island many times before I certainly now look over my shoulder a bit more." 

She says of watch thieves: "They fly themselves and their girlfriends out and what happens is they can steal a watch and put it on their girlfriend's wrist and send them to other countries.

"They are really easily taken out of the island. That was incredible to me how quickly they can get out of the island. The police have to work fast."