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

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.

Reuters

May 5, 2023 8:00 AM1 minute read

A visitor admires some ancient roman marble pieces inside the new renovated Forum of Trajan in Rome during it's inauguration, 17 Oct 2007. Photo: AFP

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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, and a Roman marble bust of a woman believed to represent Salonia Matidia, niece of Trajan, Roman emperor from 98-117 AD.

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.