Gardaí take part in Interpol art trafficking operation — 85 arrested and 6,400 items seized

Law enforcement agencies from 25 different countries are taking part in the ongoing Operation Pandora

Gold items worth €60m seized by Spain's Policía Nacional. Picture: Interpol

More than 6,400 items of cultural importance have been recovered and 85 people arrested as part of an Interpol art trafficking operation involving law enforcement agencies from 25 countries, including Ireland.

The goal of Operation Pandora, which has been ongoing since 2016, is to target criminals and organisations involved in art trafficking and the exploitation of cultural heritage.

fragments of ceramic and lithic artifacts such as arrowheads and spearheads from the Neolithic and Bronze Age seized by Italy's Carabinieri. Picture: Interpol

Led by Spain's Guardia Civil, with assistance from Europol and Interpol, the latest stage of the operation saw extensive searches carried out online, and tens of thousands of checks executed at airports, ports, border crossings, auction houses, museums, and private residences across continental Europe.

Countries which have been participating in the operation include Ireland, Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the UK.

In a statement on Friday, Interpol outlined some of the highlights of the latest stage of the operation.

• In Spain, the Policía Nacional in collaboration with police in Ukraine, recovered 11 gold items worth €60m, as well as archaeological items from the Scythian culture which had been smuggled into Spain from Ukraine.
• Guardia Civil officers also seized a private collection of 350 lithic, ceramic, and metal archaeological items in raids in the south of the country.
• In Italy, the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage identified and seized a contemporary painting being sold online. If authenticated, Interpol says the painting would have been valued at approximately €150,000.
• Separately, the Carabinieri also seized over 2,000 fragments of ceramic and lithic artifacts such as arrowheads and spearheads from the Neolithic and Bronze Age which had been put online for sale
• In France, authorities recovered an illegally exported painting by Vietnamese artist Mai Thứ at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The painting is valued at €167,440.
• In Athens, investigations by the Hellenic Police, saw two individuals arrested and 43 ancient amphorae seized.
• In Poland, police located and seized 229 important cultural objects from an antique shop. The total value of these items is estimated value of €140,000.
• In Czechia, police were able to recover, among other items, a wooden statue of Saint Bartholomew dated from between 1658 and 1660. The statue, a national cultural artifact in Czechia, had been stolen from the Last Supper Chapel in Římov in 1994 and later sold online.
• In Romania, police recovered a 175-year-old wooden iconostasis which had been stolen from a church and put up for auction online.
• In Blugaria, customs officials seized 432 ancient coins from Türkiye which were being transported to France.

Interpol says Operation Pandora is ongoing.