Art trafficking: wave of arrests worldwide, thousands of objects found

Nearly 19,000 pieces have been found through a large global operation, announced Interpol. Reuters / Edgar Su

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Interpol announced on Wednesday May 6 a wave of arrests of people accused of trafficking in works of art and antiques as well as the seizure of thousands of works of art around the world. A vast operation which is the fruit of collaboration between the various fraud prevention agencies. 

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Ancient coins, archaeological pieces, ceramic objects, weapons but also, paintings or even fossils ... These are nearly 19,000 pieces which were found thanks to a vast global operation, led by the world customs organization, Interpol and Europol in 103 countries. At present, 300 investigations are still in progress.

This joint action also enabled the arrest of more than 100 people implicated in this global traffic. Trafficking from looting in countries at war or theft from museums and archaeological sites.

These results are the result of two simultaneous operations carried out last fall: Athena II led by the World Customs Organization and Interpol and Operation Pandora IV, which focused on Europe and coordinated by Europol and the Spanish Civil Guardia .

In Madrid, in particular were found "  some extremely rare pre-Columbian objects, illegally acquired after having been looted at archaeological sites in Colombia  ", including a gold Tumaco mask, "  which, according to experts, constitutes a unique piece of its kind "Says the Interpol press release.

#NEWS: Huge crackdown on #art trafficking by @INTERPOL_HQ, @WCO_OMD, @Europol and @guardiacivil.

More than 19,000 stolen artefacts were recovered, including coins, fossils, paintings, historical weapons & archaeological objectss.https: //t.co/a0kGH4YRmV

  INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) May 6, 2020

The Argentine Federal Police, for its part, recovered 2,500 old coins, "  the largest seizure for this category of objects  " during this operation. In addition, "  Afghan customs seized 971 objects of Afghan cultural heritage at Kabul airport as they were leaving national territory for Istanbul,  " the statement said.

A large part of the coins have been found on illicit online markets. A market which remains one of the main vector of this type of delinquency.

(with AFP)

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