Even as Islamic State is destroying antiquities in Syria, the militant group is also shipping them – to intermediaries working with buyers in Europe and the US. The Wall Street Journal reveal​s​ a pattern of plunder that takes priceless ​relics from the battlegrounds of Syria to art traders in the West. In early March, Swiss law-enforcement officials pulled over a vehicle on a Geneva road and, after a search, discovered an ancient oil lamp, people familiar with the matter say. When the driver failed to provide documentation proving the object’s provenance to the officers’ satisfaction, he was arrested on suspicion of evading value-added taxes, these people say. The arrest accelerated an investigation that authorities hope can shed light on one of the art world’s best-kept secrets: how ancient objects plundered in the...

Source: Wall Street Journal May 31, 2017 15:56 UTC