TOPLINE Police have arrested more than 100 people and recovered nearly 20,000 stolen artifacts, including a pre-Columbian gold mask from South America, as part of a major international art trafficking crackdown across 103 countries, Interpol announced Wednesday.
An effort coordinated by the World Customs Organization, Interpol and Europol, authorities teamed up to open 300 investigations in 103 countries that led to the recovery of 19,000 archaeological artifacts and other pieces.
The pieces found include objects looted from war-torn countries, and art stolen from museums and archaeological sites.
Argentinian police recovered 2,500 ancient coins up for online auction in a single bust, the largest such seizure of the whole crackdown, followed by an investigation in Latvia that turned up a total of 1,375 coins.
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