Thieves in Rio are targeting visitors to the Olympic Games with some robbers as young as 15 staging tourist holdups, MailOnline has learned.

Rio's Tourist Police Station it is packed with families arriving to report they have just become a victim of crime.

MailOnline found some in tears, others looking visibly shaken, as they told of their terrifying experience of Rio's dark side - and how their long-awaited Olympics holiday had suddenly turned into a nightmare.

It follows reports that a Team GB athlete was robbed on Monday night and controversy over claims by US swimmers that they were held up at gunpoint.

Australian couple Chimene and Phil Devan were brought to the tourist police station after Chimen had her necklace ripped from her neck, allegedly by this young boy

Among the first to arrive at the tourist police station were British friends Adam Yule and Michael Phillips, both 25. Adam had had his mobile phone stolen by pickpockets

One family arrive at the police station after the tourist's Rio2016 bag was stolen with 'all her documents in it'

In a two-hour visit by MailOnline it was revealed that some tourists had just had a gun put to their heads, others threatened with a knife, and many were coming to terms with losing large amount so money, some of their most treasured belongings.

In the period MailOnline spent at the city's special police unit for tourists in the beachside district of Leblon yesterday, 21 separate cases of theft, muggings and other crimes were reported.

The victims were Olympic visitors from every corner of the world, including British, Australians, Colombians, Bolivians, Germans, French and Dutch.

One man told how he had been held up at gunpoint by a boy 'no older than 15', as he left a bank where he had just taken out nearly £1000.

The mugger took his cash as well as his Apple watch.

A Dutchman said two youths had ripped his rucksack from his back as he walked along the Leblon seafront promenade, then brandished knives when he and his partner chased after them.

And a Bolivian man, who had just arrived on Copacabana beach with his 13-year-old daughter, was left with nothing but their bathing clothes after their bag containing all their money, passports and Olympic tickets was snatched.

And all in the midst of a massive police operation, with more than 90,000 extra officers and soldiers on the streets, as the South American city has tried to reassure visitors it was safe to come here.

The security clampdown clearly hasn't put off many criminals, for whom the Games is a bounty which is worth the risk.

Bolivian man Armando Vorges, 45, arrived at the police station with his 13-year-old daughter Lia

Lia was wrapped in a towel over her bikini, her face stained with tears. The father and daughter had all their belongings stolen on Copacabana beach

Armando said he ran around the beach trying to find his stolen rucksack and was disappointed with the police response

Among the first to arrive were British friends Adam Yule and Michael Phillips, both 25, after Adam had had his mobile phone stolen by pickpockets the previous night while in the bar district of Lapa near Rio's city centre.

The phone contained most of the photos he had taken of his time in Rio, including images from the beach volleyball the friends had watched.

Michael said: 'I'm gutted. I hadn't felt that unsafe until now, but now I'm always looking who's around me. Other people I've spoken to have had things stolen too. I think Rio has a real problem with pickpockets, you have to be really careful.'

Wim de Jong, and his partner Youry, both 45, from Holland, also came to report being robbed the previous night, as they were taking a walk along the Leblon beachfront, one of the tourist spots supposedly with reeinforced security.

The men had just arrived in Rio that evening when, on their first outing, a man had tussled with Youry has he yanked the rucksack from his back. Wim remembered: 'We started running after him, but he turned around and pointed a knife at us.

A man from Colombia said a gang of thieves had grabbed an expensive gold chain he'd owned for my than twenty years from his neck along the Ipanema promenade

The man, who didn't want to be named, held the chain's pendant in his hand as he said: 'It was pure gold. But it's not about the money... it had a lot of sentimental value. Now it's gone'

'The bag had all our Olympic tickets inside, for swimming, hockey and athletics, where we were going to cheer on Holland. We also had tickets for a party at the Holland house. In all they had cost us over 900 euros. Now I don't know what we're going to do.

'I was a little apprehensive coming to Rio because I had read a lot about crime in Rio in the papers. I didn't think I'd become a victim on my first night though.'

Australian couple Chimene and Phil Devan were brought to the tourist police station in a municipal guard vehicle after Chimene had her necklace ripped from her neck as they walked along Ipanema's beachside promenade.

Minutes later, the two young boys who had snatched it were brought in, held by the back of their necks by officers.

Chimene, from Tasmania, said: 'After they robbed me we decided to keep on walking, but people around us called the police and managed to catch the boys.'

German Dominik Stingl, 35, who is in Rio working for a communications company during the Games, had just been robbed at gunpoint by two young boys

He had just left a bank in the upmarket Leblon district after taking out 4000 reals (£980) when boys 'no older than 15' put a gun to his head saying, 'the money, the money'

Soon after, a family from Colombia arrived telling how another gang of thieves had also grabbed an expensive gold chain from the father's neck, also along the Ipanema promenade.

The man, who didn't want to be named, held the chain's pendant in his hand as he said: 'It was pure gold. But it's not about the money. I'd had the chain for more than 20 years, it had a lot of sentimental value. Now it's gone.

'The guy looked around 20, he grabbed it from my neck then jumped on a bike and sped off.

'I've come here to the police station but I really don't know if it's worth the effort reporting it. I know I'll never get it back.'

The afternoon's crime spree on Ipanema beach, one of Rio's most famous beaches patrolled during the Games by armed police and soldiers, continued as more victims arrived, from Argentina and Holland, reporting being mugged there.

Wim de Jong, and his partner Youry, both 45, from Holland, also came to report being robbed the previous night, as they were taking a walk along the Leblon beachfront

De Jong said: 'We started running after him, but he turned around and pointed a knife at us'

German Dominik Stingl, 35, who is in Rio working for a communications company during the Games, had just been robbed at gunpoint by two young boys after he left a bank in the upmarket Leblon district.

He said: 'The boys were no older than 15, I thought one looked more like 12. He waited until I got into a car and he put a gun to my head saying, 'the money, the money'. He knew I'd just taking out money from the bank and even knew which pocket it was in.

'I thought about reacting, but I'd heard about people getting killed for not handing over money, so I gave it. I had just taken out 4000 reals (£980). He took my Apple Watch too.'

Anne Fleur, 19, said one minute her mother's bag was there 'and the other it was gone'

His Brazilian colleague Fernanda Ramos, who lives in Rio and was with Dominik at the time of the robbery, said it was the tenth time she had been robbed at gunpoint in the city.

She said: 'Unfortunately it's normal here for Rio people. I thought that during the Olympics it would be safer though.'

Among other crimes reported by foreigners yesterday afternoon were credit card fraud, including an Indian man who'd had 10,000 US dollars taken from his card.

One Argentinian who had reported how his card been cloned at an ATM machine said: 'The policeman wasn't surprised. He said it was really common.'

Another French family had been sitting at a restaurant on the Copacabana beachfront when the mother's bag disappeared.

This Argentinian man reported how his card been cloned at an ATM machine

The afternoon's crime spree on Ipanema beach, one of Rio's most famous beaches, occurred despite the beach being patrolled during the Games by armed police and soldiers

Daughter Anne Fleur, 19, said: 'We think it was one of the men going around the tables selling things. One moment it was there and the other it was gone. It was a Rio2016 bag, my mum had just bought it. It had all her documents in it.'

Many of the tourists complained of the amount of time it took to report a crime, with some victims waiting for up to two hours. At one point, problems with the police station computer caused cases to back up leaving foreigners increasingly frustrated.

At around 3pm, Bolivian Armando Vorges, 45, arrived with his 13-year-old daughter Lia, who was wrapped in a towel over her bikini, her face stained with tears.

The father and daughter, who were staying with friends in a distant district of Rio, had taken public transport to spend the day on Copacabana beach. But within minutes of arriving, their entire holiday had been ruined.

The tourist police station's chief said 70 per cent of crimes reported are theft

Brazilian special forces patrol past the Olympic Rings near the Beach Volleyball Arena on Copacabana Beach

Thousands of tourists are flooding to Copacabana Beach, where a warship is stationed during the Olympics, as part of their trip to see the Games in Rio

Armando said: 'We put out things on the beach. There were lots of people around, including English people. I asked if they'd keep an eye on my bag so we could just have a quick dip in the sea.

'We were walking to the sea and I looked back, and my bag was gone. We'd only turned around for seconds. No-one had seen anything.

'The bag had everything in it, all my money, our passports, mobile phones, our plane tickets and Games tickets. We lost everything.'

Armando said he ran around the beach trying to find his stolen rucksack, and found five other abandoned bags which had been stolen, but not his. And he was critical of the police supposedly patrolling the beach and protecting tourists.

This young boy is accused of stealing from Australian Chimene Devan

He said: 'I took the bags I'd found to a policeman on the beach, and he just said, 'what am I supposed to do with those?' They don't have a lost and found place, so if anyone finds my bag they won't keep it. He didn't have a radio to communicate with other policeman on the beach.

'He didn't even want to take me here to the police station, even though I was with my daughter and we'd lost everything, even our clothes. My daughter began to cry and I didn't know what to do.'

He said officers at the Tourist Police Station were equally unwilling to help. He said: 'We were obviously having a terrible time, but most of the policemen were playing around, laughing with each other. They said they couldn't take us home because it was too far, and couldn't give us any money for us to take public transport.

'Just one policemen here seemed concerned about us. He gave us ten reals which he took from his own pocket to help us get home.'

He added: 'Rio isn't a safe place to hold an Olympics, and the police system isn't prepared to deal with it. We were so excited to come to Rio and experience the Olympics, but this has ruined everything.'

Dr Alexandre Braga, the station's police chief, said robberies around the tourist area had increased 'a little, but not dramatically'

'People shouldn't be afraid to come to Rio,' Dr Braga said despite tourists being targeted

Dr Alexandre Braga, the station's police chief, told MailOnline that, despite the huge security operation, robberies around the tourist area had increased 'a little, but not dramatically'.

He said: 'In every city in every part of the world you could get into trouble if you are in the wrong place and the wrong time.

'People shouldn't be afraid to come to Rio, they should come and enjoy themselves, just take a few precautions, like avoid dark streets, don't walk on the beach at night, be careful where you put your bags down. The more careful you are, the less likely you will become a victim of crime.'

He said Rio has nearly 300 bilingual police officers in tourist areas, adding that the Tourist Police Station allows foreign crime victims to make international calls to cancel credit cards, often takes tourists back to their hotels and provides paperwork to get a new passport and recover other documents.

He said of crimes against tourists, 70 per cent is theft, 20 per cent credit card fraud, with the rest including other crimes including armed robbery, violence and sexual assault.