Roman marble bust among 11,000 stolen artefacts recovered in European crackdown

A view of several religious icons that were among the stolen artefacts that were recovered during a crackdown on international art trafficking, at an unknown location, in Greece, in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on May 4, 2023. Courtesy of Europol/Handout via REUTERS

A crackdown on international art trafficking has recovered 11,049 stolen artefacts, 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.

Among the recovered artefacts were over 3,000 ancient coins, 77 ancient books stolen from the archives of a monastery, 89 religious sculptures and other religious artefacts, and a Roman marble bust of a woman believed to represent Salonia Matidia, niece of Trajan, Roman emperor from 98-117 A.D.

A view of 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 this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on May 4, 2023. Courtesy of Europol/Handout via REUTERS

Spain led the latest reported Pandora crackdown with the support of Europol and Interpol, while Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Bosnia took part.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van CampenhoutEditing by Mark Heinrich)

A view of ancient coins among the stolen artefacts that were recovered during a crackdown on international art trafficking, at an unknown location, in Romania, in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on May 4, 2023. Courtesy of Europol/Handout via REUTERS