LONDON/VIENNA (Chatnewstv.com) — The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) announced Thursday it has begun assisting the United Kingdom Government and London Metropolitan Police in a significant national operation to secure and catalogue nearly 200 cultural artifacts.
Following a request for assistance, specialists from the OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force are working alongside the Metropolitan Police to ensure the safe extraction, forensic documentation, and secure storage of the objects. The collection includes significant items of Cambodian, Bactrian, and Gandharan heritage, among others. These items will be examined and cataloged before being repatriated to their countries of origin.
“This operation demonstrates the true power of international co-operation in defending our common heritage and disrupting the networks that are complicit in the trafficking in cultural property,” said Ambassador Alena Kupchyna, the OSCE Co-ordinator of Activities to Address Transnational Threats.
Kupchyna added, “Together, we are sending a clear message: those who profit from the theft, trafficking or destruction of cultural property will be identified, exposed and brought to justice, and these objects will find their way back home.”
Detective Constable Sophie Hayes of the Arts and Antiques Unit at the London Metropolitan Police highlighted the importance of international teamwork.
“The Arts and Antiques Unit at the Met, the UK’s only dedicated art crime team, works hand-in-hand with international partners to identify, recover and repatriate valuable artworks and cultural treasures across London,” Hayes said.
She added, “In collaboration with the OSCE, we are facilitating the identification and return of looted cultural objects recovered from London. This partnership reflects our unwavering commitment to the return of stolen artefacts to their countries of origins.”
The OSCE will collaborate with the London Metropolitan Police, relevant embassies, and government authorities to facilitate the safe return of the artifacts.
The support is part of the OSCE’s broader efforts to combat trafficking in cultural property, a crime recognized as a critical source of financing for wider transnational criminal and terrorist networks. The OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force, created in 2021, comprises a network of 80 officers and experts from law enforcement, customs, museums, and academia across the OSCE area.
