Recovery of 6400 stolen artworks

The international operation against art trafficking, coordinated by Interpol, Europol, and authorities from 25 countries, resulted in the recovery of 6,400 art objects and the arrest of 85 individuals.

Stolen artworks © Interpol

This annual operation, known as "Pandora VIII," involved extensive checks at various locations including airports, ports, border crossing points, auction houses, museums, private residences, and online platforms.Some notable recoveries during the operation include:

1. Eleven gold objects valued at approximately 60 million euros, stolen from Ukraine and illegally transported to Spain. These artifacts belong to the Scythian culture and were recovered through collaboration between Spanish and Ukrainian authorities.

2. A mid-17th-century statue of St. Bartholomew, considered a "national cultural artifact," which was stolen in 1994 from a chapel in Rimov, Czech Republic.

3. An illegally exported painting by Vietnamese artist Mai Thur, valued at nearly 170,000 euros, seized by French authorities.

The operation involved 25 countries, primarily in Europe, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

This coordinated effort demonstrates the ongoing commitment of international law enforcement agencies to combat art trafficking and protect cultural heritage across borders

seen on French TV © www.vwart.com