On 21 February the World Customs Organisation (WCO) announced that more than 41 000 objects - including coins, furniture, paintings, musical instruments, archaeological pieces and sculptures - had been seized in a global operation targeting the trafficking of cultural artefacts.
The seizures were made during the first joint customs and police operation codenamed Athena and organised by the WCO and International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) and the Europe-focused Operation Pandora II coordinated by the Spanish Guardia Civil and Europol.
Tens of thousands of checks were carried out at airports and border crossing points across 81 countries during the operations which ran from October to December 2017. Auction houses, museums and private houses were also searched, resulting in more than 300 investigations being opened and 101 people arrested.
