The networks of trafficking

The first step is extraction: looting a site, stealing a work. The second is transit: the property is transported, often in precarious conditions, to a neighbouring country or a port. The third is storage, sometimes in a free port, where it may remain for several years.

The fourth is provenance laundering: creation of false documents, successive sales, attribution to an old collection. The fifth is placing on the market: sale to a dealer or a collector, sometimes via an online platform.

The actors are of various kinds: local looters often poorly paid, regional intermediaries, carriers, restorers who prepare the objects, forgers who make the documents, dealers who offer them, and sometimes complacent experts who authenticate without checking.

Not all are organised criminals. Some links are held by people who do not grasp the scope of their involvement. That is why awareness-raising and training are as important as repression.

A network is vulnerable in several places: on the site, through monitoring and community involvement; at borders, through customs controls; in storage, through the transparency of free ports; in documents, through verification of provenance; on the market, through operators' diligence.

Effectiveness comes from the combination: each check increases the cost and risk for traffickers. OIMAP targets provenance laundering in particular, where operators' expertise is most useful.

Networks evolve with technology. Online platforms, social networks and encrypted messaging are used to offer property and negotiate remotely. Traffickers also use retouched photographs, scanned documents and fake profiles.

Approved platforms are required to detect these practices. Operators are invited to demand a physical presentation of the object and verification of the original documents before any significant transaction.