Bulgaria Dismantles International Cultural Property Trafficking Network

The operation was carried out by law enforcement and judicial officers from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the United Kingdom. Thirty-five people were arrested and more than 3,000 artefacts seized, including works of art, weapons, gold and cash, with a combined value exceeding €100 million. The authorities maintain that the criminal organisation financed illegal excavations in Bulgaria and other countries of the Balkan Peninsula.

The investigation began in 2020, after a search of a house in Bulgaria, where some 7,000 artefacts were found, including masks, military equipment, jewellery, vases, rhyta and goblets from Thracian and Greco-Roman civilisations, some of them dating to 2000 BC. Most of the artefacts had not been registered. The seized items are currently held in the National Historical Museum of Bulgaria in Sofia.

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Bulgaria Dismantles International Cultural Property Trafficking Network

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