Two priceless Van Goghs
stolen from Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum in December 2002 were
among the assets recovered from a drug-trafficking clan in the
Neapolitan Camorra mafia Friday.
The works are worth some $100 million, investigative
sources said.
The paintings are The Beach At Scheveningen During A Storm
(1882) and Congregation Leaving The Reformed Church of Neunen
(1884-1885).
Some of the gang who stole the Van Goghs and other
paintings were arrested a year later but the haul was never
found.
Assets worth tens of millions of euros were seized from the
Camorra group.
Premier Matteo Renzi congratulated Italian police on the
operation and spoke about the paintings' recovery with Dutch
Premier Mark Rutte as they both attended the funeral Friday of
Israeli statesman Shimon Peres.
Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini called the
recovery of the paintings a "confirmation of the strength of the
Italian system in the fight against illegal art trafficking".
"The outcome of this investigation confirms how interested
criminal organisations are in works of art that are used both as
a form of investment as well as a form of financing,"
Franceschini said.
He praised the work of the Naples prosecutor's office and
finance police who conducted the probe.
In a press conference in Naples on Friday, anti-mafia
prosecutor Giovanni Colangelo said the authenticity of the
paintings has been confirmed both by outside experts as well as
those of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, who were also present.
Authorities were led to recover the stolen paintings
through information provided by one of the suspects in the
investigation into the Amato-Pagano clan's drug trafficking
activities.
The paintings, which had been kept hidden in a Camorra
member's home in the town of Castellamare di Stabia, were
unveiled at the press conference by the director of the Van Gogh
Museum, Axel Ruger.
"We're incredibly happy, thanks to Italian law enforcement
that made the recovery possible," Ruger said.
The city government in Castellamare di Stabia released a
statement Friday thanking law enforcement for their efforts.
"We remain confident that the work of dismantling the
Camorra clans that besmirch the good name of our city will
continue, incessant and non-stop," it said.
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