Art Crimes Of The Year

2008 was quite a year for art crime, featuring a stolen Caravaggio that turned out to be a fake, gun-wielding thieves and under-the-table ransoms, and something of a real-life Thomas Crown affair. But for every art theft that makes headlines, tens of thousands slip under the radar of the international media.

Most people assume that art crime consists of only a handful of museum heists each year; in actuality, it has become the third-highest–grossing world criminal trade over the past 40 years, regularly perpetrated by or on behalf of organized crime syndicates and used to fund other illicit activities, such as drugs or arms trades.   So while art thefts may be fascinating and certainly sexy to read about, we must keep in mind their sinister side and gather what lessons we can from them.
 
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/29907/2008-in-review-art-crimes-of-the-year/