Story By: Jonathan Macias, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Video Credit: CEN/@SinXochimilco

This is the moment an alleged thief appears to take a mobile phone from a woman’s bag as she is distracted by a fight between two men on a colourful canal boat.

The incident occurred in Xochimilco, a neighbourhood in the south of the Mexican capital of Mexico City and was recorded by a woman who was filming the fight.

The footage shows two men, reportedly drunk, being held back from fighting on a trajinera (a traditional Mexican boat from the region) as some onlookers scream and others laugh.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@SinXochimilco

A man wearing a black polo shirt then walks in front of the camera and puts his hand into a bag placed on the table in front of the camera, touching a mobile phone but not stealing it.

Seconds later he returns and tries to steal the device, however, the woman, who continued recording, notices the attempt and confronts the stranger along with other women who were also on the boat.

Two women angrily demand that he changes to another boat and warn the other people on the other boat to watch their belongings. 

Social media users shared the video to warn people of the thief’s technique of taking advantage of distracted tourists to steal valuables.

The neighbourhood of Xochimilco is a tourist hot spot in Mexico City due to the last remains of a huge system to transport water that the Aztecs built and its dense vegetation.

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