Bloomberg looks at ISIL’s looting and smuggling:
Islamic State acts as a supplier for a complex chain involving at least five brokers and dealers, said Michael Danti, an adviser to the U.S. State Department on plundered antiquities from Iraq and Syria. The extremists are closely linked to Turkish crime networks in the border towns of Gaziantep or Akcakale, he said.
Once the artifacts are smuggled into Turkey, a broker will cash them for resale to dealers who have pockets deep enough to pay for storage and wait up to 15 years to sell, when law enforcement is less focused on them.
Archaeologists estimate that as much as $300 million worth of antiquities are now flooding the market through Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan as part of Islamic State’s transactions.
Islamic State Is Selling Looted Art Online for Needed Cash (Bloomberg Business)