Works of Art

The theft of cultural objects affects developed and developing countries alike. The two countries most affected by this phenomenon are France and Italy. The illicit trade in cultural objects is sustained by the demand from the arts market, the opening of borders, the improvement in transport systems and the political instability of certain countries.It is difficult to gauge the extent of the trade for two reasons

• the theft is very often not discovered until the stolen objects are found on the official arts market.
• countries send very little information to Interpol and many do not keep statistics on this type of criminality.

In order to combat the theft of cultural property, the relevant organizations and the public need to be made more aware of the problem. This is the primary objective of these web pages.

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Vehicle crime

According to research, illicit trafficking of vehicles is a form of organized crime which generates large profits for the perpetrators (estimated at USD 19 billion which disappears into a parallel economy) and a feeling of insecurity that affects the general public particularly due to the increased used of violence. A key aspect of this form of crime is the need to legalize stolen vehicles in order for the criminal to achieve a monetary gain.

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