Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Assets: A Genealogy of the Concept and Actions in Contemporary Brazil

Abstract

A significant part of cultural heritage has been taken by a multimillionaire trafficking system, and documents from international organizations estimate that art and heritage trafficking tops the list of the biggest illicit actions in the world, just behind drugs, weapons and human trafficking, which created a well-articulated systemic grid that indicates an exponential growth trafficking pattern. Such a mesh feeds a fairly complex system. Some examples of this mesh are private collectors, museums, monuments, religious sites, archeological/paleontological sites and other private preservation spaces; illegal excavations (including underwater excavations); theft of artifacts and works of art during armed conflicts and military occupations; illegal downloading of miscellaneous properties; production, exchange and use of forged documentation; even trafficking of cultural goods, authentic or counterfeit. This whole range of actions linked to trafficking has been fought in recent decades as the life of this set of goods is increasingly in danger. This article aims to address this type of illicit trafficking, suggesting that an international art trafficking route has in Brazil one of the least studied but no less important capillary points.