Europol has joined forces with 31 countries to tackle the illegal trafficking of archeological items and cultural goods across the EU.
Europol announced they had arrested 67 people from 31 countries, as well as having seized some 56,400 items. Codenamed Operation Pandora V, the action ran between 1 June and 31 October 2020.
During the operational phase, tens of thousands of checks and controls were carried out in various airports, ports, border crossing points, as well as in the auction houses, museums, and private houses. As a result, more than 300 investigations were opened, and 67 individuals arrested.
Archaeological objects, coins, sculptures, statues, weapons, and paintings were found and recovered.
The Spanish authorities seized more than 7.700 cultural goods with a value in excess of €9 million.
During searches on the internet, the Swedish Police discovered a pair of 17th-century candlesticks stolen from a Swedish church 8 years ago.
The Greek Police recovered a total of 6.757 antiquities, including ceramic and marble objects, as well as 6.452 coins. In one of the cases, two Greek nationals were arrested for trying to sell 6 marble and clay antiquities for €150.000.
The Albanian police also took part in this operation. Interpol facilitated communication and the exchange of information between countries in Europe and the Western Balkans, via its secure communications system disseminating alerts, warnings and performing cross-checks in different international and national databases.
Police officers and Europol paid particular attention to the monitoring of online marketplaces and sales sites, as the Internet is an important part of the illicit trade of cultural goods.
Europol identified suspicious online sales, as a result of which 15 new investigations opened.
