Organized crime involvement in antiquities looting in Italy

Bibliographic Data

ID21647142
AuthorsMarc Balcells (0000-0003-0707-8380, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, corresponding author)
Year2023
Publication date2023-10-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTrends in Organized Crime (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1084-4791 • E-ISSN: 1936-4830
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12117-023-09509-x
OpenAlexW4387297814
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited9

Tombaroli (the Italian name for looters of archaeological heritage) have criminally preyed on Italy’s ancient tombs for centuries. Criminological research on archaeological looting in Italy, however, is scarce. This research focused on the nature of the relationship between tombaroli and organized crime groups in Italy: a misrepresented relationship, as some media outlets depict looters as involved with organized crime. This research project drew on a multidisciplinary body of literature on Italian archaeological looting and interviews with looters, law enforcement officials, archeologists, prosecutors, and journalists, among others. It demonstrated that Italian archaeological looting is not a problem of organized crime. The study concluded that, presently, the relationship between looters and traditional Italian criminal organizations is anecdotal at best, nor currently looters could be considered organized criminals but rather criminals that need a certain level of organization to operate

Archaeology · Criminology · Enforcement · Geography · Law enforcement · Looting · Organised crime · Political science · Sociology · Archaeological Research and Protection · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · History · Law · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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Open DOIOpen Access