Bulgarian authorities, with support from Europol, arrested 35 individuals and conducted 131 searches across Bulgaria, seizing over 3,000 cultural artifacts valued at more than €100 million. The operation targeted a criminal network trafficking artifacts from Thracian and Greco-Roman civilizations across Europe, with connections to illegal excavations in Bulgaria and the Balkans. The investigation, which began after a 2020 house raid that uncovered 7,000 artifacts, involved law enforcement from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the UK, and was coordinated from Sofia and Eurojust in The Hague.
This bust highlights the scale and sophistication of the illicit antiquities trade, which continues to strip cultural heritage from source countries. The involvement of auction houses and galleries in France, Germany, the UK, and the US issuing questionable provenance underscores the global complicity in laundering looted artifacts. The recovery of thousands of objects—some dating to 2000 BCE—and the ongoing investigation into financing and middlemen networks demonstrate the critical role of international cooperation in protecting cultural heritage and disrupting criminal enterprises that exploit archaeological sites.