ANTIQUES THEFT AND CULTURAL CRIME

The theft and trafficking in cultural objects is an increasingly prevalent type of international crime. It is borderless and, as it is generally a non-violent crime, does not always figure highly on the spending lists of increasingly cash-strapped police forces.
It is important to tackle this for of criminal activity as it affects public confidence, discourages purchases and, in addition, creates financial risks. All sectors of the arts trade would benefit from a reduction in illicit activity, as would the public, whose cultural heritage is increasingly falling prey to thieves looking for an easy way to make money, or to launder the profits of the drugs trade.

Modern systems of transport and communication have spurred the international aspect of criminal activity because of their increasing ease of access and efficiency. Thefts of cultural objects affects both developed and developing countries, but the two most affected are France and Italy. The trade in stolen cultural objects is fuelled by demands from the arts market, the opening up of borders, the improvement in the transport system and the political instability in some countries.

There are difficulties in estimating the size of the problem for two main reasons. Firstly, the theft often goes undiscovered until the objects appear on the official arts market and secondly, countries send very little information to Interpol and frequently keep no statistics on this form of crime.

In late 1998 the largest collection of stolen antiquities was discovered in the home of Vincenzo Cammarata, in Enna, Sicilly. The articles recovered included 30,000 Phoenician, Greek and Roman antiquities worth in the region of $20mn. They were probably stolen from the ruins of Morgantina, in central Sicilly.
The investigation into this case was important. Connections to organised crime groups were uncovered and detailed information emerged on every stage of the smuggling process, including exact smuggling routes out of Sicilly, via Switzerland and the UK, to the United States.

With increasing frequency there are reports of links between the illicit trade in art and antiquities and organised crime:

1. Spanish police broke up a large international art-smuggling ring in January 1999 that was planning to trade stolen works of art for cocaine.
2. In Bulgaria historic artifacts, valued at nearly $1bn, were saved from illegal export to the West in 1999. Since 1985, 25,000 items have been stopped at the border. Although this is a vast number it is believed that this is only 30% of the amount that has been lost. Buyers of these artefacts are usually collectors from Germany, Austria or Belgium.

The majority of antiques on the arts market are without documents to prove their origins, for example an export certificate from the country of origin. If the origins of a piece are not known, then it has to be suspect.
No-one could fail to realise that the huge influx of unprovenanced material from the major drugs producing regions of Asia and Latin America is anything but suspicious. Direct links between drugs production and the smuggling of antiques have been frequently proven. For example and aeroplane arriving in Colorado from Mexico was discovered to be carrying 350lbs of Marijuana and thousands of dollars worth of pre-Colombian antiques.

It is international organisations that need to lead the way in the fight against the theft of cultural objects. It is unlikely that this form of trafficking will ever cease, but if organisations work together it may be possible to reduce it.