By Evgeniya Kleshcheva and Cristina
Silveiro
14 November 2025
Last year alone,
more than 37,000 cultural objects – including
archaeological artifacts, works of art, coins, and musical
instruments – were seized during an international
operation carried out by Interpol, and other organizations,
together with law enforcement and customs authorities from
23 countries.
According to Interpol, Ukrainian customs
authorities intercepted 87 historically valuable items,
including icons of Saint Seraphim of Sarov and ancient coins
that smugglers tried to illegally export to Poland, Moldova,
and Romania.
In Spain, investigators uncovered a group
that looted archaeological sites in the province of
Cáceres, using metal detectors to extract thousands of
Roman coins and sell them through social media.
In
Greece, three people were arrested for attempting to sell
five Byzantine icons for $80,000.
International
cooperation
According to the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC), the smuggling of
cultural property ranks alongside arms and drug trafficking
as the most profitable illicit trades.
Yet unlike
other forms of trafficking, the trade in cultural property
is not prohibited outright.
High demand for
antiquities and artworks, combined with weak regulation,
makes the market highly lucrative and relatively low risk,
especially during times of political instability, war and
social upheaval when shifting priorities often leave
archaeological sites and museums unguarded.
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Organised
criminal networks take advantage of crises, operating
through complex supply chains and profiting from both the
legal and black markets.
Speaking to UN News
ahead of the
International Day Against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural
Property, marked annually on 14 November, the UN
cultural organization, UNESCO’s
Krista Pikkat, said: “Illicit trafficking and the thefts
and illicit transfers of cultural property really touches
issues like cultural rights, cultural identity, our memory
and also the communities and their
history.”
Increasingly, traffickers also turn to
online platforms and auctions to sell stolen items,
including objects recovered from underwater archaeological
sites.
UNESCO condemned the
October 2025 theft of “eight priceless cultural objects”
from the storied Louvre museum in Paris, France, warning
that such crimes “jeopardise the conservation, study and
transmission of valuable historical
artefacts.”
Terrorism financing
The
organization emphasized that illicit trafficking fuels
global criminal networks linked to money laundering, tax
evasion, and even terrorism financing.
Since 2023,
UNESCO has trained more than 1,200 museum and customs
professionals from 80 countries to strengthen legal
frameworks, train, and raise public
awareness.
“We’re also collaborating with some of
our partners, for instance, the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), to see how nuclear
technology can be applied in the provenance research. So,
it’s also interesting to see how the new technologies in
artificial intelligence actually provide us with new
opportunities in the fight against illicit trafficking,”
Ms. Pikkat added.
In September, UNESCO launched the
world’s first Virtual Museum of Stolen
Cultural Objects, using 3D modeling and virtual reality
to display digital replicas of stolen items.
The
platform includes educational materials, testimonies from
affected communities, and examples of successful
restitution. “The idea behind the museum,” said Ms.
Pikkat, “is that one day it will be empty.”
She
shared a personal example involving her home country,
Estonia, which proposed several altar sculptures from a
small island church to the museum’s
collection.
UNESCO
A 16th Century altarpiece
from KaarmaChurch in Estonia.
Crafted by Lübeck
artisans in the 16th century, these pieces reflect
Estonia’s historic ties to the Hanseatic
League.
Their true worth, she emphasized, lies not in
money but in their historical, cultural, and spiritual
significance. UNESCO warns that a society deprived of its
heritage loses part of its identity and its foundation for
future development.
The UN culture agency continues to
support countries in efforts to identify and recover stolen
objects, including in Central Asia where artifacts have been
trafficked from Afghanistan.
Digital tools such as
electronic registries, databases, and blockchain technology
now assist in tracing the provenance of
antiquities.
Authorities urge buyers to always request
official documents to prove origin, and avoid unknown online
sellers. Suspicious items can be reported to local law
enforcement or directly to Interpol.
Each repatriated
artifact restores a precious link between past and
present.
