An Italian world record surpassed once again: with 2021 and starting from 1969, the year of foundation: the excellence body of art intelligence, the Carabinieri command for the protection of cultural heritage, at the head of which today is the general and successful writer, Robert Riccardi, has far exceeded the 3 million of valuable assets recovered, approaching the clamorous milestone of 4 million. “And with an acceleration that – declared a FIRST online Roberto Riccardi during the end-of-year press conference in the presence of the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini – has characterized the last few years with a trend that is growing above all for the value of the recovered assets”.
“Today we are in fact presenting the latest operation, the return which took place on December 15 in New York, at our Consulate General, and by the District Attorney of Manhattan Cyrus Vance, of 201 precious pieces, worth about 10 million euros, which over the last few decades had ended up in the USA, sold by major international traffickers and acquired – sometimes after various changes of hands – by important museums, auction houses, antique galleries and private collectors”, added Riccardi. "An operation, probably the most sensational in recent years, not only for the value but also for the breadth of the periods to which it belongs (from the eighth century BC to the first century AD), for the variety of civilizations of reference (Roman, Etruscan, Magna Graecia and Apulia) and, in short, for the fact that it represents a grandiose historical and artistic symbolic fresco of our country and of our civilization".
As regards the operating activity of the year, Riccardi underlined that only i archaeological assets found over 53 thousand, resulting from 57 illegal excavations, and thanks to the control of as many as 1.700 terrestrial and marine archaeological areas, some carried out in collaboration with the Carabinieri of the Aircraft Group or the Underwater Units, 57 people were reported for illegal excavations.
To our precise question on the routes that criminal organizations practice in moving and sorting stolen goods, Riccardi believes that these are traditional routes, perhaps more fluid but also more difficult to trace. "For example, the 200 cultural assets recovered over the last few decades had ended up in the USA, sold by major international traffickers all over the world and acquired - sometimes after various changes of hands - by important museums, auction houses, galleries antique dealers and private collectors. In addition to the USA, requests always come from the richest countries and areas, from Northern Europe to Japan and the Middle East”.
Another example of atransnational operation, that of December 10: the Taras, coordinated by the Taranto Public Prosecutor's Office, carried out by the TPC carabinieri of the Operations Department and by the Dutch, German, Swiss and Belgian police forces with the exceptional recovery of over 2 thousand archaeological masterpieces from Southern Italy. Increasingly skilled and technologically equipped routes and gangs, however, see an increasingly sophisticated counter action by the 320 super-specialist carabinieri thanks also to the oldest and most extensive database of works to be searched in the world.
And it is precisely to this online intelligence activity of the super experts of the Command "that the new software technologies will give further acceleration to trace on all platforms and finally also on the dark web, the immense international trafficking of cultural assets stolen not only from the Italy but also to countries such as those of the Middle East, South America and Asia, during the wars of invasion and "liberation".
"The advent of the new technologies we are working on - Riccardi revealed to FIRSTonline - will allow us by 2022 and thanks to the funding of 5 million euros from the EC to have software for automatic image search for the purpose of automatic comparison of data regarding any work unlawfully disappeared and present in the immense traffic on online platforms, certainly including the Dark web. Moreover, our data archive now has approximately 8 million files, of which 1.300.000 refer to works still to be researched".
In the meantime, other news: the Carabinieri of the Command have risen to 220, the Northern Operational Command based in Monza will leave quickly or are already in operation, the special nucleus, already in place, in L'Aquila and another in Matera. Drones, helicopters, instruments and personnel equipped for underwater searches are becoming increasingly frequent and sophisticated thanks to almost unique hardware and software technologies because the Command is truly unique in its specific skills in preventing and combating the trafficking of cultural assets, so much so that it is called for consultancy from governments all over the world, from China to the United States, from Europe to Africa. And also against the organized crime more insidious, powerful and widespread, the Calabrian 'drangheta, the carabinieri of the art manage to obtain extraordinary successes. "We remember particularly difficult operations - concluded the General - such as the one conducted in 2019 in Calabria with special drones that allowed us to red-handedly film the grave robbers at work".
