OSCE assists UK authorities in major antiquities recovery operation

LONDON/VIENNA, 13 November 2025 – Today, the OSCE began supporting the United Kingdom Government and London Metropolitan Police in a significant national operation to secure and catalogue just under 200 cultural artefacts.

Following a request for assistance from the UK Government and London Metropolitan Police, specialists from the OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force will work alongside the Metropolitan Police to ensure the safe extraction, forensic documentation and secure storage of the objects. The collection includes significant items of Cambodian, Bactrian and Gandharan heritage, among others. These items will be examined and catalogued before being repatriated to their countries of origin.

“This operation demonstrates the true power of international co-operation in defending our common heritage and disrupting the networks that are complicit in the trafficking in cultural property,” said Ambassador Alena Kupchyna, the OSCE Co-ordinator of Activities to Address Transnational Threats. “Together, we are sending a clear message: those who profit from the theft, trafficking or destruction of cultural property will be identified, exposed and brought to justice, and these objects will find their way back home.”

Detective Constable Sophie Hayes of the Arts and Antiques Unit at the London Metropolitan Police said “the Arts and Antiques Unit at the Met, the UK’s only dedicated art crime team, works hand-in-hand with international partners to identify, recover and repatriate valuable artworks and cultural treasures across London.”

“In collaboration with the OSCE, we are facilitating the identification and return of looted cultural objects recovered from London. This partnership reflects our unwavering commitment to the return of stolen artefacts to their countries of origins. While these reunions can be complex, we are proud to play a central role in this important international operation,” she added.

The OSCE will work with London Metropolitan Police and the relevant embassies and government authorities to facilitate their safe return.

This support from the task force is part of the OSCE's broader efforts to combat trafficking in cultural property, which has been recognized as a serious transnational crime that not only deprives communities of their cultural heritage but also serves as a critical source of financing for wider transnational criminal and terrorist networks.

The OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force was created in 2021 to assist OSCE participating States in interdicting and disrupting networks complicit in trafficking in cultural property, and the linkages to organized crime, terrorism financing and money laundering. The Task Force comprises a network of 80 officers and experts representing law enforcement, customs and border management agencies, prosecutors' offices, museums and academia from across the OSCE area as well as international organizations.