AMSTERDAM—A crackdown on international art trafficking has recovered 11,049 stolen artifacts, including ancient coins and books and a marble bust believed to represent the niece of a Roman emperor, European police force Europol said on Thursday.
Sixty people were arrested in the raids across 14 European countries last year, part of so-called Operation Pandora launched by Europol in 2016 and renewed annually since then.
A stolen artefact that was recovered during a crackdown on international art trafficking, in the trunk of a vehicle at an unknown location in Spain in an undated handout picture obtained on May 4, 2023. (Courtesy of Europol/Handout via Reuters)
Among the recovered artifacts were over 3,000 ancient coins, 77 ancient books stolen from the archives of a monastery, 89 religious sculptures and other religious artifacts, and a Roman marble bust of a woman believed to represent Salonia Matidia, niece of Trajan, Roman emperor from 98–117 A.D….