Theft on Playa La Ropa

On the subject of break-ins, etc.......just a word of caution to never walk around with credit or debit cards you don't intend to use that day or evening, and to carry only as much cash as you need for that particular outing.
Today, at around noon, our friends had their backpack stolen from out in front of the Hilton, on Playa La Ropa. They'd gone in for a swim and came back to find one backpack gone, and the other rifled through. People in the immediate area said that a middle-age woman, apparently local, wearing "squarish" sunglasses, brazenly stole the items. No one intervened because they assumed nothing was amiss.
Other than a few hundred pesos, two sets of keys and a brand new backpack, little of any more value was taken. Police were called and a report made.
What's most upsetting is that this kind of theft on La Ropa isn't supposed to happen! We, and many others, have left our junk unprotected for years and years......never a problem. Sign of the times?