Latest news with #Carabinieri
Iraqi News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Minister of Interior Discusses Prospects for Cooperation with Deputy Commander of the Carabinieri
The Minister of Interior, Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, discussed today, Tuesday, prospects for cooperation and joint coordination with the Deputy Commander of the Carabinieri. According to a statement from the Ministry obtained by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), 'Minister of Interior Abdul Amir Al-Shammari met today in his office with Lieutenant General Marco Minicucci, Deputy Commander of the Carabinieri, and the Italian Ambassador to Iraq, Niccolò Fontana.' The statement added that 'the meeting addressed avenues of cooperation and joint coordination, particularly in the fields of training, capacity building, and the exchange of expertise.' Minister Al-Shammari praised 'the support provided by the Carabinieri in training several sectors of the Ministry and the mutual exchange of expertise.' For their part, the Deputy Commander of the Carabinieri and the Italian Ambassador expressed their appreciation for 'the efforts undertaken by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in the fields of security and public service, as well as the joint work, particularly in the area of training.'
ABC News
23-05-2025
- ABC News
Italy's elite squad of art cops who protect priceless artefacts
At the back of a police station in the Italian capital of Rome is a warehouse that holds one of the most valuable art collections in Europe. Behind the armoured door is a vault that looks like it belongs to a compulsive hoarder. But instead of being filled with trash, it is an Aladdin's cave of treasure. Works from Picasso, Banksy, Warhol, Modigliani and a $300 million Van Gough are found alongside carefully labelled bronze statues and marble busts. But there is a reason this coveted haul isn't on public display — everything is either stolen or fake. The artefacts have been recovered by the Italian Carabinieri Art Squad. They're an elite branch of the police force, with 300 investigators devoted to protecting Italy's cultural heritage from tomb raiders, art thieves and painting forgers. The items are stored at the force's headquarters until they are returned to their rightful owners or used as evidence in criminal trials. Lieutenant Colonel Diego Polio has been with the squad for over a decade. He told the ABC an increased demand for contemporary art has fuelled a boom in forged works. Last month, his officers raided an art forgery workshop in Rome and seized 71 fake paintings copied from some of the world's most famous artists, including Picasso and Rembrandt. "Scanning the web, we found an e-commerce site of a restorer selling many paintings of contemporary art in a way that was suspicious," he said. "We found he had a forgery laboratory here in Rome, he painted many contemporary art paintings, faked authentication and sold them online for hundreds of thousands of dollars." Earlier this year, the squad arrested 38 people across four European countries. They're suspected of being part of an organised crime syndicate that has produced more than 2,000 replicas of paintings by Banksy, Warhol, Monet and Dali, which had a total value of $340 million. The squad has tracked down millions of stolen authentic artworks, including a 500-year-old copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi — the world's most expensive painting. The $450 million piece was believed to be painted by one of da Vinci's students and looted from a museum in Naples. The illegal art trafficking trade is one of the world's biggest, and generates billions of dollars on the black market each year. Italy was the first country to set up a dedicated art police unit in 1969. Since then, it has recovered more than 3 million artworks and artefacts. Lieutenant Colonel Polio said his investigators start as police officers, before they get specialised training in art history, restoration and recognising counterfeit works. "All of our police officers come from other units, they must be experienced and they have to pass an exam and undertake a course about art and archaeology," he said. "We use traditional investigation techniques like phone taps, undercover officers, surveillance and fake websites to attract people who want to trade illegally cultural goods." There is also a special branch of the force that target thieves who raid tombs, using helicopters, drones and divers as surveillance. Italy has the most cultural heritage sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List, making it a prime target for thieves known as the "tombaroli" or tomb robbers. They smash their way into ancient burial chambers, mainly in the centre and south of Italy, to recover vases, ornaments, jewellery and medieval pottery from ancient Roman times. Lieutenant Colonel Polio said many of these sites are under the ocean and require sea patrols and submariners. "We use drones and helicopters to try to find illegal excavations before they can steal from the areas and sell them abroad," he said. "Illegal excavations in Italy are a big problem because we have more than 600 archaeological sites, that we know of." Other countries have followed Italy's lead and created their own art squads, but none have replicated the Carabinieri's success. The FBI's Art Crime Team in the United States was founded in 2004 and has 30 agents, one tenth the size of the Carabinieri team. The Carabinieri doesn't just focus on Italian art, it works with other countries to recover stolen items from across the world. In 2023, investigators found a stolen 2,500-year-old Mediterranean amphora at Australia's National University (ANU), which was likely smuggled out in piles of pasta. The ANU bought the vase, which depicted Greek champion Heracles fighting a mythical lion, in good faith from Sotheby auction house in London in 1984. "When we find an item abroad in another country, but there is no criminal activity, we can use cultural diplomacy to try to recover it and to take it back to our nation," Colonel Polio said. Lieutenant Colonel Polio said the force's secret weapon is AI. It's called SWAD — The Stolen Works of Art Detection database. With 8 million registered items, it is the largest of its kind in the world. "It's an artificial intelligence system that scans the web and when it finds something we know is stolen, for example on an e-commerce site, it sounds an alert and we start an investigation," he said. If you try to buy a Picasso or Banksy online, Lieutenant Colonel Polio said there is a good chance you will have an Italian detective looking over your shoulder. "I have always thought that the best skill that an investigator must have is to be creative, you need to think outside the box and have smart ideas," he said. "My favourite part of the job is handing back stolen items. "You find the people are very happy, sometimes they cry, especially when they are objects of religious origin and for us it's very positive to return these items to the communities."
The Independent
23-05-2025
- The Independent
Tourist caught by Rome police with 30kg marble artefact on electric scooter ‘for souvenir'
A tourist who tried to take an Italian marble artefact from a Roman column on the back of his electric scooter has told police he was just looking for a souvenir from his holiday. Police in Rome say they apprehended the 24-year-old from Munich, Germany, as he drove his Lime scooter down one of the city's busiest streets in the middle of the day. The 30kg marble base was resting on the scooter's footplate. When the suspect was approached, he reportedly told the arresting officers he had only wanted a 'souvenir' from his trip. The 24-year-old had already been in Tuscany and after a brief stay in Rome, he continued his journey to Naples. The man was arrested for possessing a 'cultural asset of historical and artistic interest', according to a statement from Rome's Carabinieri. 'Last afternoon, the Carabinieri of the Operations Unit of the Carabinieri Company Rome Center, passing through via Vittorio Veneto, noticed a young foreigner who was traveling along the road on a rented scooter, on whose platform, between his feet, he was carrying the base of an ancient marble column (40 x 20 cm in size / weighing approximately 30 kg),' the statement read. 'From immediate checks at the Special Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome of the Ministry of Culture, [the marble] was found to be classifiable as a 'cultural asset of historical and artistic interest'.' They added that the man was reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office and accused of possessing stolen goods of cultural importance. The marble has been impounded, set to undergo further checks to determine its place of origin. It is not clear how the tourist ended up with the marble. It is not the first time tourists in Italy have run into trouble for taking historical artefacts. In 2020, a tourist from the US sent back a piece of ancient rock she took while in Rome along with a note of apology. Identified as 'Jess', the woman said she was sorry 'for being such an American a**hole' and for behaving in an 'inconsiderate and disrespectful' way. The chunk of marble, believed to have possibly come from the Roman Forum, was sent to the Museo Nazionale Romano from Atlanta, Georgia. 'I would like to return this rock to its rightful place," read the note that accompanied it. "Please forgive me for being such an American a**hole. I took something that was not mine to take.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Rome police catch German tourist carrying ancient marble slab on electric scooter
A German tourist has been arrested in Rome on Wednesday after being caught riding down the street on a rented electric scooter with the marble base of a Roman column on the footplate. Officers saw the 24-year-old man transporting what he later called a "souvenir" on Via Vittorio Veneto, an upmarket street in the centre of the Italian capital near the Villa Borghese park. The man was cited for possessing a "cultural asset of historical and artistic interest," according to a statement from Rome's Carabinieri. Officers impounded the marble base and said it would undergo further checks to determine its place of origin. Related Stolen Roman statue recovered by Italian art police after chance discovery in Belgium It was not immediately clear how the man came to be in possession of the ancient artefact, which weighed around 30 kilograms. The Special Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome has since authenticated the artefact and deemed it a cultural asset of historical and artistic interest, potentially belonging to one of the major archaeological sites in the Italian capital. The German tourist has been reported to the public prosecutor's office and accused of possessing stolen goods of cultural importance. The investigation continues, authorities said.
Euronews
23-05-2025
- Euronews
Rome police catch man carrying ancient marble slab on electric scooter
A German tourist has been arrested in Rome on Wednesday after being caught riding down the street on a rented electric scooter with the marble base of a Roman column on the footplate. Officers saw the 24-year-old man transporting what he later called a "souvenir" on Via Vittorio Veneto, an upmarket street in the centre of the Italian capital near the Villa Borghese park. The man was cited for possessing a "cultural asset of historical and artistic interest," according to a statement from Rome's Carabinieri. Officers impounded the marble base and said it would undergo further checks to determine its place of origin. It was not immediately clear how the man came to be in possession of the ancient artefact, which weighed around 30 kilograms. The Special Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome has since authenticated the artefact and deemed it a cultural asset of historical and artistic interest, potentially belonging to one of the major archaeological sites in the Italian capital. The German tourist has been reported to the public prosecutor's office and accused of possessing stolen goods of cultural importance. The investigation continues, authorities said.
