Trafficking in antiquities - Finestre sull'Arte

Epstein files: document links former MoMA president to looted Cambodian antiquities

A single-page document contained in files released by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the case related to Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with child sex trafficking and died in prison in 2019, officially by suicide, links billionaire and a...
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For the first time, Portugal returns three illegally taken archaeological artifacts to Mexico

For the first time, Portugal has returned to Mexico archaeological goods illegally removed from its territory. The handover took place on Feb. 12, 2026 at the headquarters of the Mexican Embassy in Lisbon, where Portuguese authorities formally transf...
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Pompeii recovers a valuable fresco that was in the U.S. in a private collection

A fragment of a fresco from the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii, has returned to the availability of Pompeii Archaeological Park after being spotted within a private collection in the United States. The work depicts Hercules as a ...
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Trafficking in artifacts worth 100 million: operation in Bulgaria

On November 19, 2025, an operation coordinated by Bulgarian authorities, with the support of Europol and the participation of police and judicial forces from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom, led to the dismantling of a...
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From Syrian tombs to Western museums: trafficking in antiquities after the fall of Assad

In the dark nights of Palmyra, groups of men armed with picks, shovels and jackhammers move silently through the ruins. Their goal is not memory, nor preservation of the past: they search for buried treasures, ancient coins, carved busts, mosaics. Th...
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