The customs and other departments responsible for the application of the law of 29 countries, coordinated by the Spanish ” civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and supported by Europol, Interpol and the world customs Organization (WCO), have joined forces against the trafficking of cultural goods. Operation name: Pandora III.

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a number Of arrests across all of Europe

In the framework of the mission, the police and customs focused on the market in line with the objective of putting an end to crime on the web. In total, 59 people have been arrested and 18,000 items of great values have been recovered particularly in the local private centers and postal.

coins, paintings, musical instruments and sculptures have been entered, as this former seal cylindrical crystal of Mesopotamia recovered by the Germans. The Dutch police also put the hand on a bible of the Fifteenth century, stolen in Germany there are more than 25 years and 109 old parts have been intercepted by the Italians.

The vast majority of the objects came from Europe, but more than thirty came from countries such as Colombia, Egypt, Iraq and Morocco. All other objects that could facilitate trafficking have also been captured such as metal detectors.

The success of this operation has been possible thanks to a series of controls under the cover of several agents who have inspected and searched many auction houses, art galleries, airports, archaeological sites, and private residences between 22 and 30 October 2018.

international cooperation in the fight against the digital

Pandora III is the latest in a series of transactions. In 2018, Pandora II has resulted in 51 arrests and the recovery of over 41,000 objects. In 2017, the first Pandora had resulted in 75 arrests and helped to put the hand over 3 500 objects. Many other missions against the traffic of works of art have already been established as Demetra, which has led to the seizure of approximately 25,000 objects and 23 arrests.

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The real challenge of the forces of law and order remains the digital. Via social media platforms and websites, a large part of the looted items are sold easily. Given the international dimension of this crime, Europol, Interpol and the WCO have established coordination units operational 24 hours on 24 and 7 days on 7. But the Brexit puts heavily into question the participation of the United Kingdom in these missions of international caliber.