You admit to not knowing what tech these criminals have, and then on the basis of that you conclude "it doesn't look normal to me"..
It's like landing in Saudi Arabia and saying, "All the women here wear head covering, that doesn't look normal to me"...
Meanwhile on the flipside the authorities hype it up to be some state-sponsored threat, as if to say "Look citizen, your very competent government is keeping you safe! Trust us!"