Abstract
This chapter looks at the criminal organization of the transnational trade in antiquities and other cultural objects. It presents comprehensive analyses of two trading networks, paying critical attention to the nature of data sources. First it examines the actions of Subhash Kapoor, a New York-based dealer of Asian art, who was arrested in 2011 on charges related to trafficking cultural objects. Second, it assembles evidence of trading out of Dubai. The chapter concludes by highlighting the role of criminal entrepreneurship in sustaining the trade. It also suggests the importance of brokerage across frontiers for protecting consumers in the destination market from accusations of knowingly acquiring illicitly traded material.
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Notes
- 1.
The Italian Carabinieri state they have no evidence of involvement by the mafia or their regional equivalents in the Italian source market (Nistri 2011, p. 185).
- 2.
Weiner herself was arrested in December 2016 on charges relating to antiquities trafficking (Mashberg 2016e). The arrest complaint alleged that some of her stock objects had been acquired from Kapoor, though it was clear that Kapoor was not her only source.
- 3.
In the early 1980s, the looting and trade inside Syria is believed to have been orchestrated by Rifaat al-Assad (uncle of Bashar al-Assad) (Brodie 2015, p. 325). Similarly, during the 1990s, the looting and trade in southern Iraq is thought to have been organized and controlled by Arshad Yashin, Saddam Hussein’s brother-in-law, until Hussein put a stop to it (Brodie 2011, pp. 16–17).
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Brodie, N. (2019). The Criminal Organization of the Transnational Trade in Cultural Objects: Two Case Studies. In: Hufnagel, S., Chappell, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook on Art Crime. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54405-6_21
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