Museum Art Heists, China, and Fentanyl

Host Ralph Pezzullo is the guest this week—talking about his new book, “The Great Chinese Art Heist,” (Pegasus Crime.) Interviewed by renowned art theft expert Anthony Amore, Ralph breaks down the series of ‘pink-panther-like’ museum robberies of Chinese art and antiquities across Europe, and links them to the systematic looting and destruction during the Opium Wars of China’s famed Old Summer Palace.

Taking only what they perceive to be rightfully theirs—and often leaving valuable European artworks behind—It has become chic for Chinese billionaires to fund these art ‘reclamation’ thefts to demonstrate their patriotism, as they leverage the international criminal organization of the Chinese triads and their nefarious colleagues in different regions. Intimidated at running afoul of Chinese investment in their countries, their victims have done little to protest.

Pezzullo’s research also unearths China’s perspective that they endured a ‘century of humiliation’ at the hands of the west from the mid-19C to Mao’s Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, and that they are now pursuing “unrestricted warfare” aimed at Europe and the U.S. in their declared ‘Century of Revenge.’ 

 “A treat for history buffs and caper fans alike!” –  Publishers Weekly

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
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