CULTURAL RACKETEERING

Cultural racketeering is the systematic looting and trafficking of art and antiquities by organized crime.

• Top five black market crime - a multi-billion dollar criminal industry. • Wide group of criminal participants• Terrorism funding • No reliable statistics exist on the extent of this crime.

The Antiquities Coalition

These materials are property of The Antiquities Coalition and Can Not be Used Without Authorization.

Cultural Racketeering: Damage and DestructionArchaeologist Surveys Looters’ Pits Across Landscape

These materials are property of The Antiquities Coalition and Can Not be Used Without Authorization.

Looter Pits in Abusir, EgyptMay 2011

Dura-Europos, Syria2012

These materials are property of The Antiquities Coalition and Can Not be Used Without Authorization.

Dura-Europos, Syria2014

Credit: Egypt’s Heritage Task Force

Cultural Racketeering: Damage and DestructionLooters’ use of heavy machinery destroyed ancient sites and the important historical material they contain

Daesh Fighters in Mosul

Mosul MuseumMosul, Iraq - March 2015