Why should we care?

The looting crisis

Illicit antiquities trade

Museum acquisitions

Plunder is a crime

What can we do?

Treaties & legislation

Bilateral agreements

Success stories

Globalization has meant that people around the world are increasingly connected, and advances in technology and communications have made the worldwide movement of people, goods, services, money, and information much faster and easier. However, organized criminal groups that operate on an international scale are taking advantage of these innovations; as they steadily diversify their activities, they have become more deeply involved in theft and export of illicitly-obtained antiquities and other cultural property, posing a threat to our global cultural heritage.

The drastic increase in the current market values of antiquities has precipitated an infiltration and monopoly of the black market by organized criminal syndicates. Plunder of ancient objects has become a thriving industry for these groups. While organized criminal groups are not the only figures involved in the business of looting, their presence in this illicit business makes plunder a particular threat to both cultural heritage and national security.  

The looting of archaeological sites is one of the most alarming and destructive types of cultural property theft. When criminal groups are involved, it can be especially damaging. In Turkey, for example, evidence suggests that criminal syndicates recruit people in economically depressed areas, their efforts meeting with lowered resistance. Organized criminal groups enlist locals to scour the countryside for archaeological treasure, provide them with information, equip them with specially-prepared aerial maps and sophisticated metal detecting technology, and divert law enforcement involvement away from their illegal activities (Conklin, 1994). The looting causes extensive damage to the sites themselves. Cultural materials then move from the countryside up through Istanbul, are secreted across the border, and end up on the international market, often with forged provenance documents (Acar & Kaylan, 1988).

It is important to note that art and antiquities in themselves are not illegal. They are, in fact, only illegal when they have been "stolen, smuggled, or forged" (Tijhuis, 2006: 97). Indeed, when antiquities are properly and legally excavated, and archaeological context is preserved, the objects can provide invaluable information about our shared cultural heritage.

What are some aspects of the organized criminal looting and trade in cultural material?

1. The current annual trade in illicit antiquities is estimated at around 7.8 billion, ranking behind drugs (160 billion) and arms (100 billion ) as the most profitable black market (United Nations Global Report, 1999).
2. There are numerous reports from around the globe that organized criminal groups smuggling illicit drugs and arms also deal in stolen cultural property (Bernick, 1998).
3. Antiquities smuggling has also been connected to terrorism. 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta, for example, admitted to peddling stolen antiquities in order to help finance the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (de la Torre, 2006).
4. Organized criminal groups often use the legal end of the antiquities trade as a means of money laundering, disguising financial gain from other illegal activities (Watson, 1997).
5. The trade in illicitly-obtained cultural material can involve corruption on the part of customs agents, law enforcement, and government officials who will turn a blind eye to the illegal activities (Brodie, Doole, & Watson, 2000).
6. Organized criminal involvement in looting antiquities can turn violent. In 1998, for example, two guards at archaeological sites in Guatemala were killed while on duty (Brodie, Doole, & Watson, 2000: 16).
7. According to INTERPOL, the most popular means of cultural property theft involves breaking and entering. Private residences, museums, archaeological sites, and places of worship are popular targets among looters and thieves (INTERPOL, 2007).
8. The trade in illicitly-obtained cultural material has also given rise to a thriving business in copies, fakes, and forgeries (Brodie, Doole, & Watson, 2000).
9. There is substantial evidence to suggest that provenance information and export documentation are often forged in order to be sold on the legal market (Alder & Polk, 2005).

Why is plunder a crime of international concern?

1. It has the potential to strip entire countries of their cultural heritage. In 2002, for example, Italy reported 18,715 items stolen from museums, places of worship, galleries, castles, archaeological sites, and private residences (INTERPOL, 2007b). While the number is high, it is important to remember that this number does not reflect unreported items.
2. It is a crime whose effects are felt in many countries. In 1998, for example, over a quarter of Australian art object recoveries were made in a country other than the origin of theft (Hanley, 1999).
3. Organized criminal groups do not always confine their illegal activities within national boundaries. They often extend their sphere of influence beyond national borders (Naylor, 2002), which then requires coordinated international efforts to combat illicit activities such as looting.
4. Recognizing the theft and export of illicitly-obtained cultural material as criminal, many international organizations including INTERPOL, Europol, and the United Nations have become involved in the protection of cultural property.  

While organized criminal gangs may have infiltrated the global looting industry, not enough time, human resources, and transnational police efforts have been devoted to tracking, stopping, and prosecuting their illicit activities. However, there is growing recognition of plunder as crime among scholars, researchers, and practitioners from all sorts of agencies and institutions around the world. Such increased interest, cooperation and coordination of research and enforcement efforts is certainly an encouraging sign.

References

Acar, O & Kaylan, M (1988). The hoard of the century: part I. Connoisseur (July) 74:83.

Alder, C & Polk, K (2005). The illicit traffic in plundered antiquities. In Reichel, P (Ed.), Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Bernick, L (1998). Art and antiquities theft. Transnational Organized Crime 4(2): 91- 116.

Brodie, N, Doole, J, & Watson, P (2000). Stealing History: The Illicit Trade in Cultural Material. Cambridge: The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Conklin, J (1994). Art Crime. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

de la Torre, L (2006). Terrorists raise cash by selling antiquities. Government Security News 4(3). Retrieved online 15 November 2006 from, http://www.gsnmagazine.com/pdfs/38_Feb_06.pdf

Hanley, B (1999). Law enforcement issues in art theft. Paper presented at the Art Crime Conference convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology, Sydney. Retrieved 18 October 2006 from, http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/artcrime/hanleyle.pdf

INTERPOL (2007). Frequently asked questions regarding stolen works of art. Accessed 5/Feb/07 online at: http://www.interpol.int/Public/WorkOfArt/woafaq.asp

(2007b) Cultural property theft statistics. Accessed 17/June/05 http://www.interpol.int/Public/WorkOfArt/statistics/StatPlace2003.asp

McCalister, A (2005). Organized crime and the theft of Iraqi antiquities. Trends in Organized Crime 8(3): 24-37.

Mueller, G. W. O. (1998). Transnational crime; an experience in uncertainties. Uncertain Scenarios , 1,1.

Naylor, R (2002). Wages of Crime: Black Markets, Illegal Finance, and the Underworld Economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.

Tijhuis, E (2006). Transnational Crime and the Interface between Legal and Illegal Factors: The Case of the Illicit Art and Antiquities Trade. Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers.

Watson, P (1997). Sotheby's: The Inside Story. New York: Random House.