This is a scenario that we have seen play out previously. In some cases Islamic State Jihadists have destroyed antiquities of various types to symbolize their Salafist agenda. But in other cases they have surreptitiously absconded with such valuable artifacts and fenced them through legitimate dealers to raise money for Jihad…
The FBI on Wednesday urged art dealers in the United States to be careful when buying antiquities from the Middle East, saying there is evidence collectors have recently been offered artifacts plundered by Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.
The looting of ancient artifacts across Iraq and Syria and their sale on the black market has become a source of funding for Islamic State militants, and there is growing concern those items are showing up in the Western marketplace, the FBI said in a press release.
“We now have credible reports that U.S. persons have been offered cultural property that appears to have been removed from Syria and Iraq recently,” said Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, manager of the FBI’s Art Theft Program.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fbi-warns-u-art-dealers-antiquities-looted-syria-072829649.html
