In 2024, the Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Naples wrote a new chapter in a long and complex battle, made up of investigations, seizures, widespread checks and, above all, results. Almost 25.000 art assets recovered in just one year – for an estimate of nearly 9,2 million euros – and an increasingly dense network against cultural predators, from digital tomb raiders to international criminal organizations.
This is a demonstration of how Law 22/2022, with the introduction of new types of crime in the Criminal Code, has given impetus to a more penetrating investigative activity, made even more effective by the use of cutting-edge technologies such as the SWOADS system, the artificial intelligence that finds stolen works on the web, deep web and social media. Thanks to these tools, archaeological and artistic goods for sale online have been traced and seized, including 740 pieces intercepted on e-commerce platforms.
But the fight is also in the tunnels of the city. “Operation San Gennaro” has brought to light an incredible discovery: a frescoed early Christian church, dating back to the 10th-11th century, hidden under the buildings of Naples, brought to light thanks to an investigation into an illicit trafficking of artifacts. And then the operation “Consilinum”, with the discovery of a necropolis from the 5th century BC during illegal excavations in the Salerno area, and “Costiera Violata”, which struck at the heart of illegal building in protected areas of the Amalfi Coast and Cilentana.
The amount of effort is in the numbers: 35 searches, 100 reports, 27 people involved in a single criminal association dedicated to the looting of ecclesiastical assets. Checks are also increasing in museums, antique markets, commercial businesses in the sector, and in areas bound by landscape and monumental protections.
And the horizon is international. While the rogatory letters for the repatriation of stolen goods continue, such as the “Doriforo di Stabiae” today at the Getty Museum in Malibu or the “Lesena marmorea” found in Belgium, Italy, and Naples at the forefront, continues to fight for the recovery of its cultural identity.
Article published on May 7, 2025 - 16:27 pm
