EUROPE THANKS TO OPERATION PANDORA MORE THAN 11,000 WORKS OF ART SEIZED - DayNewsWorld

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EUROPE THANKS TO OPERATION PANDORA MORE THAN 11,000 WORKS OF ART SEIZED
The police arrested 60 people and recovered 11,049 stolen works of art as part of a vast operation to crack down on international traffic in works of art carried out in 14 European countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Republic Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Operation Pandora, which takes place every year, was held from September 13 to 24, 2022. Several thousand checks were carried out at various airports, ports and border crossing points, as well as at auction houses, museums and private residences. Two weeks of cyber patrol were organized during Pandora VII, in May and October respectively, with more than 8,495 checks carried out online and 4,017 stolen goods seized. Pandora VII has made it possible to find, among others, the following stolen objects: 77 old books in Italy; a Roman marble female bust in Seville, Spain; 3,073 old coins, seized from an online sales platform by the Polish police; 48 religious sculptures and other religious objects recovered by the Portuguese authorities; 13 archaeological objects from the Russian Federation, seized in a post office in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some 130 investigations are still ongoing, raising the prospect of further seizures and arrests as investigators around the world go after those who damage and destroy cultural heritage. Operation Pandora, first launched in 2016, is an annual law enforcement operation. It is carried out within the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld