[MSN] BULGARIA'S POLICE RECOVERS STOLEN ANTIQUES WORTH FIVE MILLION EURO

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

BULGARIA'S POLICE RECOVERS STOLEN ANTIQUES WORTH FIVE MILLION EURO 
11:11 Fri 30 Jun 2006
 
Police in Bulgaria busted two large organised crime groups involved in
antiques smuggling and have recovered stolen antiques for over five million
euro. 

The National Museum of History opened a new exhibition featuring the
recovered objects, Darik Radio reported. The collection was of high quality
and value, head of the National Police Service chief commissioner Valentin
Petrov said. 

President Georgi Purvanov thanked the police for the excellent work and said
that the state would continue attempting to recover Bulgaria's lost cultural
and historical treasures. 

During the operation the police detained four people from the two groups in
the towns of Knezha and Veliko Turnovo. The smugglers exported antiques to
Germany and the Netherlands, the police said. 

According to police information the gangs had no connections with any other
organised crime groups. Investigators were working on possible involvement
of customs officers, Darik said. 

The group in Veliko Turnovo was also planning the robbery of three banks in
the town, Darik said. The police discovered expensive high-tech computers
that smugglers used to block alarm systems in buildings they robbed.