“Around 100,000 cultural objects of global importance, including 4,500 archaeological sites, nine of which are included in the World Heritage List of … UNESCO, are under the control of ISIS … in Syria and Iraq,” Ambassador Vitaly Churkin wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council.
“The profit derived by the the so called Islamists from the illicit trade in antiquities and archaeological treasures is estimated at U.S. $150-200 million per year,” he said.
The smuggling of artifacts, Churkin wrote, is organized by the so called Islamic State’s antiquities division in the group’s equivalent of a ministry for natural resources. Only those who have a permit with a stamp from this division are permitted to excavate, remove and transport antiquities; aol reported.