Operation Of 7 State Apparatus Capture 35 European Antiquities Thief-Smuggler

JAKARTA - Bulgarian authorities have revealed that seven countries' law enforcement operations uncovered advanced criminal networks targeting stolen antiques or artifacts across Europe.

Citing AFP, Monday, November 24, this coordinated operation in collaboration with Eurojust and Europol managed to arrest 35 suspects related to a smuggling network that seeks to sell thousands of stolen ancient artifacts from museums across Europe.

Bulgarian prosecutor Angel Kanev said of the numbers arrested on Thursday local time, 20 of them face charges of trafficking in antiques and money laundering.

Kanev said the criminal group had been operating in Western Europe, the Balkans, the United States, and other countries for more than 16 years. Money laundering investigations have so far identified more than $1 billion in illegal funds.

On Wednesday this week, judicial and law enforcement authorities from Albania, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom took coordinated action in their respective countries.

According to a Europol press release, the operation covered 131 searches of homes, vehicles, and bank safes in those countries. More than 3,000 artifacts were confiscated, including gold and antique coins and other antiques with an estimated value of more than 100 million euros or about 116 million US dollars.

Other confiscated items include artwork, weapons, documents, electronic equipment, large amounts of cash, and investment gold.

The deputy chief directorate of cultural heritage protection specifically for Italy's Carabinieri, Paolo Befera, praised the operation as "the largest ever done in this way," while noting that in Italy alone, some 300 historical artifacts were confiscated from suspected smugglers.