October 21, 2021
Crimes involving cultural property
flourished during 2020, despite restrictions on travel and access to public
institutions during lockdowns, a new Interpol survey has found.
Credit Stock image Pexels.
Police from 72 Interpol member countries
seized a total of 854,742 objects, more than half of them in Europe, according
to the survey. Notably, marked increases in illicit excavations were observed
in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the South Pacific. Crimes in museums,
however, declined in all regions except the Americas.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant
impact on criminals involved in the illicit traffic of cultural property, but
did not in any way diminish the demand for these items or the occurrence of
such crimes,” said Corrado Catesi, the coordinator of Interpol’s Works of Art
unit. “As countries implemented travel restrictions and other restrictive
measures, criminals were forced to find other ways to steal, illegally excavate
and smuggle cultural property.”
Photo by Katarzyna Bialasiewicz.
The number of offences reported in the
Americas in 2020 was almost doubled the 2019 figure. In Europe, the crimes
increased to 6,251 from 5,088 offences. In Asia and Africa, showed lower
proportion of such crimes occurring in museums compared to the previous year.
Among the high-profile art crimes reported
in 2020 were the theft of a Van Gogh painting from the Museum Singer Laren in
the Netherlands and three masterpieces stolen from Christ Church Picture
Gallery in Oxford in the UK. Operation Pandora, a coordinated European
law-enforcement effort targeting the illicit trafficking of cultural goods,
resulted in more than 56,400 objects being seized.
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