The Pandora operation has been worldwide in scope. In Spain, the development of these actions against the illicit trafficking of cultural property and antiquities has resulted in the arrest of nine people and the opening of 59 procedures for administrative offenses.

As reported by the Civil Guard in a note that takes stock of the actions carried out over several months, in Spain 271 inspections were carried out in establishments related to the art market and more than 750 checks were carried out in places of historical and cultural interest, wrecks and archeological sites.

The Pandora global operation, developed at that time in combination with an operation by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and INTERPOL, has allowed the seizure of more than 19,000 cultural objects and various antiquities, including archaeological goods, coins of different periods, religious objects, paintings and sculptures.

To this end, tens of thousands of controls have been carried out at airports and border crossings in the 103 countries in which the police option has been developed.

Antique shops and stores, art galleries, auction rooms and museums have been inspected, with the end result of a total of 101 detainees worldwide and more than 300 open investigations.

Among the most outstanding actions, the one carried out by Civil Guard agents in which they detected a suspicious sale of archaeological objects through the internet. With the collaboration of the territorial delegations of Culture of the Andalusian Government in Granada and Córdoba, as well as the University of Granada, the recovery of a lion carved in limestone and a frieze of the same characteristics, both from the period, was achieved. Roman republican, 1st and 2nd centuries BC, in addition to the intervention of fifteen other forged pieces.

In Seville, three pieces of columns of Roman origin were used, used as ornamentation in a garden of a palace in Seville, as well as four marble columns, two of them of Genoese origin, of high historical value.

For its part, the National Police, in collaboration with the Colombian National Police, recovered some very rare pre-Columbian objects looted in the South American country and illegally acquired at the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport. These include a unique Tumaco gold mask and various gold figures and antique jewelry items.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Civil Guard
  • National Police
  • Spain
  • Cordova
  • Colombia
  • culture
  • art

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