Caught at customs – Picasso drawing smuggled from Zurich to Ibiza
Picasso drawing smuggled from Zurich to Ibiza
The traveler stated that it was just a copy of the drawing “Trois personnages”. In fact, the work of art should be worth 450,000 francs.
Spain’s customs confiscated a drawing attributed to Picasso worth 450,000 euros at Ibiza airport. Customs announced on Monday that the work entitled “Trois personnages” was found in the suitcase of a traveler from Switzerland on July 5. Now he is suspected of smuggling.
The man came from Switzerland with the work, which was dated 1966, and tried to “import it to Spain without registering it,” it said. But the Italian customs officials said they had been warned by their Swiss colleagues about a work of art being transported under “suspicious” conditions.
They then asked the traveler about the drawing. He stated that the drawing was a simple copy and showed an invoice for 1,500 Swiss francs (1,515 euros). In his suitcase, however, the customs officials found a second bill from a gallery in Zurich for CHF 450,000 with a reference to the Picasso drawing “Trois Personnages”.
According to a preliminary expert opinion, the drawing is indeed an original work by the Spanish painter. The “price calculated by the gallery corresponds to the market price”, charges the experts.
This first expertise must now be confirmed by a “more comprehensive report” using “state-of-the-art techniques”, customs added. The traveler faces charges of smuggling.
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