About 90% of what was seized during the operation will be returned to Bulgaria.
This was stated in the program “Crossroads” on NOVA by Deputy Minister of Culture Todor Chobanov regarding the dismantled network for distributing artifacts worth hundreds of millions of euros. 37 people were detained in Bulgaria. The operation of the services was carried out on the territory of 10 European countries. Among those detained, the name of a respected Greek professor of archaeology stands out. The historical values found abroad will be returned to Bulgaria.
“It is truly an unprecedented operation in its scale. As someone who has been dealing with this topic for a quarter of a century, I can say that in the last half century there has not been such a large operation. There are now 10 countries, but I cannot comment on which ones they are because many of them do not want to be disclosed”, commented Chobanov.
He explained that this is about the international mafia for trafficking in antiques. “After World War II, black markets began to be created with objects stolen during wars. They also deal with human trafficking, drugs and money laundering”.
“The goods for which we have data are worth several hundred million euros. We are talking about dozens of caches, safes for hiding items. We suspect that objects stolen from Bulgarian museums in the 1990s will be returned to us”, commented Chobanov.
According to him, the objects were obtained as a result of treasure hunting. “Their chronological scope is in the period from the 7th century BC. to the 3rd-4th century AD. We are mainly talking about objects made of precious metal, gold and silver”, added the Deputy Minister of Culture.
“About 90% of what was seized during the operation will be returned to Bulgaria. After processing and analyzing the materials, they will be distributed to museums. I expect the largest number of objects to go to the National History Museum”, he explained.
“Among the discovered artifacts there are many coins made of precious metal, but also many antique ornaments, small objects made of precious metal. The larger objects are from the Roman era”, said Chobanov.
He explained that these networks exist and are involved in trafficking in everything. “They operate all over the world. The role of countries is to work together to dismantle them”.
“Bulgaria is one of the most active countries in the world in the fight against antiquities trafficking. We cooperate with the USA, Western Europe, France, Italy and Spain. We are currently in negotiations with Switzerland to sign a special bilateral agreement that will allow objects to be returned to Bulgaria very quickly. We have a major international role”, added Chobanov.