HSI repatriates stolen and looted cultural property to the people of Italy
From left: Francesco Gargaro of the Carbinieri, Lee Satterfield of the U.S. State Department, Italian Ambassador to the United States Mariangela Zappia, ICE Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Director Staci Barerra, Senior Adviser Mary Cook of CPAA, HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina Berger, and Kenia Harris of CPAA standing in front of a fragment of a Roman fresco from the end of the first century BCE in Etruria, Italy. The repatriated fragments were taken through an illegal archeological site in the Etruria region in central Italy and illegally exported to the United States. HSI found them in an auction house in Chicago, Illinois.
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) repatriated 30 artifacts to the Republic of Italy’s Ambassador to the United States Mariangela Zappia during a ceremony held at the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 31.
The repatriation included myriad artifacts, such as ancient books and manuscripts, coins, paintings, statues and sculptures, an ammonite fossil and a Greco-Roman bronze helmet.
“Colleagues and friends, you are all invaluable partners in our efforts to combat the trafficking of cultural property, and we are happy to celebrate our success in person today,” said HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina Berger. “This repatriation to the people of Italy is the fourth involving HSI agents since July, with this one being the most comprehensive, as it involves more than 20 different seizures from a dozen different HSI offices. The artifacts we repatriate today cover more than 2,500 years of your civilization’s history — from a fragment of a fresco from the first century BCE to ancient coins made of gold that likely fell from someone’s pocket 1,700 years ago, to a relatively modern 3-meter-tall painting that was mounted behind an altar.”
The recovery and repatriation of Italy’s artifacts was the result of collaborative domestic and international investigative work from several HSI offices located in Rome, Italy; Wilmington, Delaware; Dallas; Chicago; Atlanta; New York City; Cleveland; Denver; Los Angeles; Syracuse and Rouses Point, New York, and Washington, D.C., where HSI special agents and staff collaborated with the government of Italy; the U.S. Department of State; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the FBI Art Crime Team; U.S. attorneys’ offices; the Smithsonian Institution and other subject matter experts.
“For nearly a quarter of a century now, the United States and Italy have worked together to combat illicit trafficking and theft of cultural property through the framework … of the bilateral cultural property agreement,” said the U.S. Department State’s Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Lee Satterfield. “The relationship we’ve built through this agreement is a model of cooperation, and today is yet more proof that it is a model of success.”
One of the primary goals of the HSI Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities (CPAA) program is to protect and preserve the world’s cultural heritage and knowledge of past civilizations. CPAA conducts training and outreach, supports cultural property investigations and enhances international relations by working with foreign governments and citizens to return their nation’s looted cultural heritage and stolen artwork.
Since 2009, HSI’s CPAA program has partnered with the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Center and the Smithsonian Institution to train special agents within HSI, as well as the FBI, customs officers and prosecutors on trends in the illicit cultural property market, conducting criminal investigations, and properly handling cultural property. Since 2007, HSI has repatriated over 20,000 objects to more than 40 countries and institutions worldwide.
While this is a significant number, a single artifact or object recovered and repatriated is a success in preserving cultural heritage. In addition to its work facilitating repatriations, CPAA continues to execute its mission to investigate leads, work alongside partners and pursue individuals and translational criminal networks engaged in the smuggling of cultural property, art and antiquities.
In fiscal year 2022, HSI’s International Operations repatriated cultural property to more than 15 countries, including France, India, Iraq, Italy and Mali on 20 different occasions. Repatriated items included prehistoric fossils, cuneiform tablets, religious artifacts and artwork stolen from Jewish communities during the Holocaust.
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HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
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