Pakistan, Italy move to curb smuggling of cultural heritage

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Italy are preparing to put in place a formal bilateral cooperation mechanism aimed at tackling the smuggling of stolen cultural heritage, amid a reported rise in cases involving antiquities trafficked from Pakistan to European markets.

According to the plan discussed by officials, the arrangement will cover intelligence sharing, specialised training, capacity building and the transfer of modern technology to improve institutional responses to transnational crimes involving cultural property. Officials said the mechanism is expected to operate through a dedicated liaison channel between the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Italy’s Carabinieri unit responsible for the protection of cultural heritage.

FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar took part in a high-level Zoom briefing on Thursday delivered by Brigadier General Antonio Petti, commander of the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC), an Italian force of around 300 personnel focused on art-related crime.

"International cooperation is the only way to dismantle these networks. Cultural crime is transnational, and you cannot fight it alone," Brig Gen Petti said during the briefing.

The virtual session followed commitments made during Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi and FIA DG Dr Usman Anwar’s visit to Rome in February. During that visit, both sides agreed to establish a formal mechanism, with facilitation from the Pakistan embassy in Rome, to help prevent the smuggling of cultural artefacts.

"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.

The development comes after a sharp increase in thefts from archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In 2025, the FIA reported seizing smuggled Gandharan and Buddhist artefacts valued at more than $3.2 million. In February, the agency also broke up a major network in Taxila that was attempting to send 2nd-century statues to Europe through Dubai.

During Thursday’s interaction, Brig Gen Petti outlined practices used by the Carabinieri TPC, which has recovered more than three million stolen artefacts since 1969. The Italian unit also maintains Leonardo, described in the report as the world’s largest database of stolen art. FIA officers are to be trained to access that database in real time.

Planned liaison desk and training

Under the proposed framework, Pakistan and Italy will set up a dedicated FIA-Carabinieri liaison desk in Rome. The first group of FIA officers is scheduled to begin joint training at the Carabinieri academy in Rome in the third quarter of 2026, covering the July-September period.

A formal memorandum of understanding to codify the cooperation is expected to be signed in Islamabad next month.

The briefing was presented as a step towards sustained coordination, joint initiatives and knowledge-sharing between the FIA and the Italian Carabinieri as both countries seek to protect cultural heritage from transnational criminal networks.