Mafia Trading Arms For Isis-Looted Artefacts?
The ‘ndrangheta and Camorra mafia groups in southern Italy are dealing in antiquities looted by Isil in the Middle East, according to an investigation by the Italian newspaper La Stampa. The Italian mafia groups are reportedly handing over to Isil weapons smuggled out of Moldova and Ukraine by Russian criminal groups in exchange for Roman and Greek artefacts illegally excavated from ancient sites including Leptis Magna, Cyrene and Sabratha in Libya—all Unesco World Heritage Sites. The objects are shipped from the former Isis stronghold of Sirte to Gioia Tauro in Calabria, a major port used by the ‘ndrangheta to smuggle cocaine into Europe.
