World's most elite art police to assist Pakistan in tackling antique smuggling

Pakistan and Italy are partnering up to crack down on the growing illicit trade in stolen cultural heritage as the trafficking of antiquities from Pakistan to European markets continues to rise.

The two countries are preparing to launch a structured bilateral framework that will serve as a dedicated liaison channel between Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Italy’s Carabinieri TPC, an elite unit specialising in art and antiquities crime, Pakistani media reports.

The venture will focus on intelligence sharing, specialised training, capacity building and the transfer of advanced technologies to strengthen institutional responses to transnational crimes targeting cultural property.

FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar took part in a high-level virtual briefing this week, led by TPC Brigadier General Antonio Petti.

“International cooperation is the only way to dismantle these networks. Cultural crime is transnational, and you cannot fight it alone,” said the head of Italy’s 300-strong art crime unit, widely regarded as the world’s leading cultural protection force.

The briefing follows commitments made during Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Dr Anwar’s visit to Rome in February, where both sides agreed to formalise cooperation with support from Pakistan’s embassy.

“This partnership gives FIA access to the best forensic tools, databases, and operational tactics in the world,” Dr Usman Anwar told Dawn after the briefing.

Pricy problem for Pakistan’s cultural heritage

The initiative comes amid a sharp rise in thefts from archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In 2025 alone, authorities reported seizures of smuggled Gandharan and Buddhist artefacts worth more than $3.2 million.

In February, investigators dismantled a major trafficking ring in Taxila, attempting to move second-century statues to Europe via Dubai.

The country has also seen several high-profile recovery cases in recent years, including the 2022 arrest of an American-Indian art dealer linked to artefacts dating back 8,000 years to Pakistan that had been smuggled to New York in the 1990s.

Earlier crackdowns at the port of Karachi in 2005 and 2012 also intercepted shipments worth millions of dollars.

Deepening operational cooperation

During the virtual session, Brig Gen Petti outlined best practices developed by the Carabinieri TPC, which has recovered more than three million stolen artefacts since 1969.

The unit operates “Leonardo”, the world’s largest database of stolen art, which FIA officers are expected to gain real-time access to under the partnership.

As part of the agreement, the two countries plan to establish a dedicated FIA–Carabinieri liaison desk in Rome. The first group of FIA officers is set to begin joint training at the Carabinieri academy in the third quarter of 2026.

A formal memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed in Islamabad next month, laying the groundwork for long-term cooperation.

By Nazrin Sadigova