Las Vegas, Nevada (The Adobo Chronicles) – Apple CEO Tim Cook has been invited to be the keynote speaker for the annual convention of the International Association of Muggers and Snatchers (IAMS) to be held at Mandalay Bay Hotel in La Vegas, Nevada, from October 3-4, 2014.

With the theme “Strategies for the Future,” some 2,000 attendees will discuss new ways to deal with emerging wearable technology, including the newly unveiled Apple Watch.

In the last decade, the mugging and snatching industry has seen a disappointing decline ever since mobile phones became popular, eliminating the need for people to wear wrist watches. Wrist watch snatching was one of the top income-generating activities for IAMS members. Since then, muggers and snatchers have switched to snatching mobile phones but people have grown smarter in protecting their hand-held devices against thieves.

IAMS president Herminegildo Nakaw who is from the Philippines, said that the association’s membership were absolutely thrilled and encouraged upon hearing of the new Apple Watch which would retail at about $349. “We’re back in business,” Nakaw said, “and we look forward to hearing from Tim Cook on more details of the Apple Watch so that we can come up with more effective mugging and snatching strategies.”

It is estimated that the mugging and snatching industry generates close to $400 Billion annually.