19 arrested in Italy for international antiquities trafficking

Italian police arrested 19 people on illicit antiquities trafficking on Friday, local media reported.

The operation was carried out mainly in Naples, Caserta and the surrounding southern Campania region, although some arrests were also made in two cities near Rome, Adnkronos agency said.

Those arrested were charged with conspiracy to antiquities looting and international trafficking.

Military police officers recovered some 1,500 antique artifacts, which had been allegedly stolen from several archaeological sites across Campania.

Among the artifacts were also large pieces of fresco from a Pompeii villa, ancient Greek vases from Paestum, and other Greek pottery dated from the 4th century BC to the 2nd century BC, prosecutors said in a press conference.

Pompeii and Paestum areas are both located south of Naples, and considered among the most extensive and relevant Italian archaeological sites in Italy.

Faked artifacts worth around 1.6 million euros (1.8 million U.S. dollars) were also seized during the operation.

Over 5,300 precious artifacts had already been recovered by Italian cultural heritage police unit in Switzerland on Jan. 21.

These antiquities had been stolen and sold abroad, through faked documents, also to museums in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, according to Italian authorities.

This major finding had come after a 14-year-long investigation and the artifacts were worth up to 50 million euros (56 million U.S. dollars), Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini said. Endit