The illegal diggers come at night with shovels and sacks, hunting through the places where they know the professionals have been. They’re looking for the tonnes of ancient artefacts that lie hidden in Bulgaria’s soil. In the past two decades, Bulgarian law enforcement agencies say this plunder has turned into a €30m-a-year industry for local…
“Stolen Memory” is the investigation that led to the creation of the first journalistic platform that collects massive data on illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts from Latin American countries. It is a project of Peruvian digital investigative journalism site Ojo Público, which invited four important media in the region to participate in a transnational and…
Investigators recovered more than 2,000 objects, mostly coins, that they say were offered for sale through auction houses. Greek police have busted what they say is a criminal organisation that has been looting antiquities from ancient sites in the country for the past 10 years and smuggling them out to auction houses and private buyers…
The German ‘Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte e. V.’ informs about the destruction of cultural heritage through metal detectoring. read more (in German)
“Prevention”, “cooperation”, and “awareness raising” are the terms that one hears when it comes to preventing illicit trafficking in cultural property. The challenges are many: thefts in museums, public and private spaces, and archaeological sites are ongoing; conflicts ravaging the Middle East are leading to a surge in looting and trafficking; and circulation and sale…
EAA-Community on the Illicit Trade in Cultural Material 