Police around the world have worked together to find lots missing art. The detectives were Interpol, Europol and many national police forces. The World Customs Organization also helped the search. The police officers found more than 19,000 items artwork. These include an ancient Colombian gold mask that is 600 years old. There was also a carved Roman lion, centuries-old jewellery, and thousands ancient coins. Many of the items the police recovered were stolen museums and archaeological sites. A lot them were taken from countries at war. The thieves took cultural treasures while countries were a mess because of fighting civil wars or wars against other countries.
The police arrested 101 art traffickers the world. The art thieves were Spain, Colombia, Latvia, Afghanistan and Turkey. Interpol said they spent a long time monitoring online marketplaces to find the art and the thieves. Interpol's secretary-general Jürgen Stock spoke to journalists how big the operation was. He said: "The number arrests and objects shows the scale and global reach the illicit trade cultural artefacts, where every country a rich heritage is a potential target." Interpol added: "Organised crime has many faces. The trafficking cultural goods is one of them. It is not a glamorous business run flamboyant gentlemen forgers, but international criminal networks."
