ICYMI: EU Police arrest Georgians suspected of stealing €2.5 million worth of antique books

Over 100 law enforcement officials were deployed last week to raid 27 different locations in Georgia and Latvia – on the lookout for rare and antique books that had been stolen from European libraries.

The cross-border operation coordinated by Europol, the EU’s police agency, resulted in the arrest of four Georgians who are believed to be part of a criminal group that ransacked libraries across the continent, stealing at least 170 valuable collectors’ books.

In total, the group is believed to have caused €2.5 million worth of financial damages and an “immeasurable patrimonial loss to society” according to Europol.

Officers were able to secure over 150 books in the raids, and authorities are in the process of establishing their provenance – one of the books the thieves stole in France has already been identified.

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A penchant for Russian literature

The thefts took place over two years - in 2022 and 2023. National and historical libraries in Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Switzerland have all reported books missing during this period.

The thieves would target rare books mainly written by Russian writers – including first editions by Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol.

Their modus operandi was, at times, sophisticated: they would visit libraries posing as specialised academics, and request to examine the antique books in person. During these consultations, they would meticulously measure the books and take photographs before handing them back to librarians.

Then, days, weeks or even months later, they would come back to the library and ask to look at the same books, this time swapping them with counterfeit versions that experts said were “of outstanding quality.”

Other times, the group’s methods weren’t as subdued. They’d simply break into libraries and steal the books outright, after surveying and deciding what was worth taking.

A coordinated effort across EU borders

Europol launched an investigation into the stolen rare books after French authorities informed the agency of books that were missing from French libraries; other member states later confirmed they had observed a similar MO in their national libraries.

Among the institutions that have reported thefts is Vilnius University Library – which reported 17 books of great historical and cultural significance worth around €440,000 in total, stolen from the Rare Books Reading Room and Professor’s Reading Room in May 2023.

The University of Warsaw last year also reported the thefts of first editions of works by Pushkin and Gogol.

On top of the four Georgian suspects arrested in last week’s raid, three other Georgian suspects were apprehended earlier in Estonia, France and Lithuania and two more have been in custody in France since being arrested in Brussels in November 2023.