Two joint initiatives performed by officers from Europol, Interpol, and the World Customs Organization, in addition to a range of national police forces, has resulted in the arrest of 101 individuals and the recovery of over 19,000 items of archaeological and artistic significance.
Pieces, including thousands of ancient coins, a carved Roman lion and a pre-Columbian gold mask, have all been recovered in two international customs and police operations late last year, in an attempt to stem the growth of archaeological and art theft across the world.
According to the secretary general of Interpol, Jürgen Stock: “The number of arrests and objects show the scale and global reach of the illicit trade in cultural artefacts, where every country with a rich heritage is a potential target.
“If you then take the significant amounts of money involved and the secrecy of the transactions, this also presents opportunities for money laundering and fraud as well as financing organised crime networks.”
Pieces which have been stolen from museums, archaeological sites, and even war-afflicted countries, are often sold illegitimately, and can include pieces ranging from fossils to paintings and ceramics.
Interpol had given particular focus to online marketplaces, gathering some 8,670 objects for sale during a “cyber patrol week” led by the Italian carabinieri.
Executive director of Europol said that, Catherine de Bolle, concluded that: “Organised crime has many faces.”
“The trafficking of cultural goods is one of them: it is not a glamorous business run by flamboyant gentlemen forgers, but by international criminal networks.
"You cannot look at it separately from combating trafficking in drugs and weapons: we know that the same groups are engaged, because it generates big money.”
