Police have arrested an international ring of traffickers alleged to have smuggled thousands of stolen Sicilian archaeological treasures worth more than £30 million to collectors and auction houses across Europe.
A British art dealer and 20 Italians have been arrested, along with one person in Spain and another in Germany, after police identified artefacts looted from Greek and Roman archeological sites in Sicily.
Investigators, who began probing the ring four years ago, said a gang had “systematically looted Sicily’s rich archaeological heritage”, with police recovering more than 25,000 items including ancient coins, statues and pottery.
For decades, it is alleged, a gang has plundered archaeological sites in the provinces of Caltanisetta and Agrigento, where the ancient Greek Valley of the Temples are located, before being sold via auction houses in Germany.
Europol, which financed the meetings between each country’s forces, said that key facilitators in the trafficking ring were “also acting from Barcelona and London, coordinating the supply chain and providing technical support”.
Metropolitan Police officers acting on a European arrest warrant issued by Italian magistrates Wednesday arrested the art dealer, Thomas William Veres, 64, in London, a Carabinieri paramilitary police spokesman told a news conference.
