0:00:10 > 0:00:13It's shortly before 8am in central Amsterdam
0:00:13 > 0:00:16on Saturday the 7th of December, 2002.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19It's cold, just two degrees, and it's a miserable day,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21there's hardly anyone about.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26In the Museum Quarter,
0:00:26 > 0:00:31a van pulls up and two men unload a ladder and pack some tools into a bag.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33They leave the vehicle,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37looking for all the world like two regular workmen on a cold winter's day.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44They came here, to this spot.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48They climbed over this gate and set their ladder against that wall.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54They then put on ski masks and proceeded to climb
0:00:54 > 0:00:57one of Amsterdam's most recognisable cultural landmarks,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59the Van Gogh Museum.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Heading to the other side of the building,
0:01:08 > 0:01:14and hidden from the gaze of anyone down here by a small wall,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16they use a pair of sledgehammers
0:01:16 > 0:01:19to smash a hole in one of the gallery's
0:01:19 > 0:01:21reinforced security windows...
0:01:23 > 0:01:26..setting off the first of a series of alarms.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Inside, the men quickly scan the walls
0:01:32 > 0:01:34and snatch two paintings close to the hole
0:01:34 > 0:01:36through which they'd entered,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39a seascape and a picture of a church,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42both from Van Gogh's early period.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46That triggers two more alarms and, meanwhile,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48the CCTV has picked them up.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50A female security guard contacts the police,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54but until they arrive, she's helpless because museum regulations
0:01:54 > 0:01:57don't allow her to confront the thieves.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Finally, the robbers bundle the paintings, still in their frames,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06into their tool bag and make their escape,
0:02:06 > 0:02:07coming down a rope
0:02:07 > 0:02:10that they'd attached at the start of the heist
0:02:10 > 0:02:12to a flagpole at the front of the building.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17One of them came down so hard
0:02:17 > 0:02:20that he smashed the seascape on the ground.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Then, as the police finally arrive,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28looking for them at the back of the building,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32they resume their disguise as ordinary workmen and make their way,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35with the paintings, into the city.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39The whole operation lasted just three minutes and 40 seconds.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46So who on earth would steal not one but two paintings
0:02:46 > 0:02:49by the world's most famous artist?
0:02:49 > 0:02:55Who might they hope to sell them to, these untradeable goods?
0:02:55 > 0:02:56What could be their motive?
0:02:56 > 0:02:58What might they hope for?
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Well, that's what I'm here to find out.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11I'm Andrew Graham-Dixon.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14I'm an art historian.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I don't often get mixed up in the world of organised crime.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30But now I'm uncovering the true story behind the most shocking art crime
0:03:30 > 0:03:32of the 21st century -
0:03:32 > 0:03:35the theft of some of Van Gogh's most personally charged
0:03:35 > 0:03:37and cherished paintings.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40It's an investigation that'll take me into
0:03:40 > 0:03:44the dizzyingly wealthy world of the international art market.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53And also to some of the poorest, most deprived areas of Europe.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56I'll meet some extraordinary people.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03And venture deep into the dark side,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06where the leaders of criminal organisations
0:04:06 > 0:04:09actively use stolen art for their own twisted purposes.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12It's a race against time,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16where cops and investigators try to save masterpieces before they're lost forever,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20as the criminal underworld meets the works
0:04:20 > 0:04:24of the most famous and popular artist on the planet.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41It seems that, these days, everybody wants a piece of Van Gogh.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Two million people visit Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum every year.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52His work, in all its forms,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55is enduringly popular with the public at large.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05And it's a magnet for millionaire art collectors.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18So this is painted in 1889.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21It's a time when Van Gogh was at the asylum in Saint-Remy.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25This forms part of the Impressionist and modern art evening sale.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27We are offering 32 lots
0:05:27 > 0:05:31at a rough low estimate of around £140 million.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42This is certainly one of the top pieces in that sale.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46It's very rare to find a picture of this quality up on the market.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Van Gogh oils are pretty rare anyway.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52I think this is a painting that has huge universal appeal,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54so we've got a very long list of clients
0:05:54 > 0:05:57who are looking at it from all over the world.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02So we move to this Van Gogh, The Reaper,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04painted in Saint-Remy in 1889.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06I start this at £9 million.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09£9 million. 10 million, and 11 million already.
0:06:09 > 0:06:1112 million. At 12 million.
0:06:11 > 0:06:1313 million is bid.
0:06:13 > 0:06:1614 I have. 15 million.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19£16 million. 17, a new place.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Thank you, sir. Welcome into the bidding.
0:06:21 > 0:06:2318 million is bid.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Many bids in many places, but the gentleman here has it at 19.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29At 19 million for the Van Gogh.
0:06:29 > 0:06:3020.
0:06:31 > 0:06:3420,500,000.
0:06:34 > 0:06:3721 million. 21.5.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40It's the American bidder just behind.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44For the Saint-Remy Van Gogh, at £21,500,000.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Are we all out?
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Sold to you at 21.5.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Well done. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02When paintings sell for sums like that,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06it's hardly a surprise that the art market should have become
0:07:06 > 0:07:09such a wasps' nest of artful dodgers,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13dealers with hopeful attributions, forgers, fakers.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17But the number-one dodge is theft,
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and of all artists whose work have been stolen,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Vincent van Gogh ranks pretty much at the top.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Since the Nazis in Germany first confiscated Van Gogh paintings in 1937,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38more than 40 of his masterpieces have been stolen
0:07:38 > 0:07:41in at least 15 separate heists,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43from galleries all over the world.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Many of those works were eventually recovered,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51but some are still missing.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02In Amsterdam in 2002,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05the race was on to track down the missing paintings
0:08:05 > 0:08:09from the Van Gogh Museum before they disappeared forever.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20The Dutch police put one of their top detectives on the case - Bob Schagen.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23What was your instinct about the kind of people who'd done this?
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Professional burglars.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28In and out, three minutes, very professional.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30And gone by the wind.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34But the thieves had made a crucial mistake.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Inside the smashed window was a hat.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41And downstairs, by the rope, we had a cap.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- Like a baseball cap? - Yeah, like a baseball cap.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Yeah, and then inside the hats were DNA.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Analysis of the DNA led to a clear match from the Dutch database of
0:08:56 > 0:08:59previously convicted offenders.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02The chief suspect, Octave "Occy" Durham,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05was well-known as a professional thief.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08And he was known as a very good burglar, so...
0:09:09 > 0:09:14We know that he was specialised in burglaries, and big burglaries.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18And we followed him, and we wanted to see what his behaviours were, and...
0:09:20 > 0:09:21..earned he a lot of money?
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Was he spending a lot of money, or whatever?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26After fleeing to Spain,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Occy Durham was eventually arrested in December 2003,
0:09:30 > 0:09:31and brought back to Holland.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35So when you arrested him,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38was he co-operative, was he silent, was he...?
0:09:38 > 0:09:42No, but he didn't say anything about the Van Gogh.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45He was denying, and he didn't say anything.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48- "Not me, not me."- No, "Not me."
0:09:48 > 0:09:51You have arrested somebody, but where are the paintings?
0:09:58 > 0:10:01I'm not sure there's much that the Van Gogh Museum
0:10:01 > 0:10:03could have done about it.
0:10:03 > 0:10:04He smashed the window...
0:10:05 > 0:10:07..and the fact is there was a three-minute window.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10That was the flaw in the system.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13If you could do what he could do, if you could climb like Occy,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16get in, get out, make your escape.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21His mistake was to leave his hat, because inside his hat was hair,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23and in his hair was his DNA,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27and pretty soon enough they knew who it was who'd done the deed.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30The problem was, they didn't know where the paintings were.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36One of the few ways to track down the pictures
0:10:36 > 0:10:38was to follow the money.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43To find out if the suspects were suddenly flush with cash
0:10:43 > 0:10:46and, if so, who had it come from?
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Dutch prosecutor Willem Nijkerk.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52We had wiretaps where they were talking about
0:10:52 > 0:10:55a lot of money that they were getting.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58They never wanted to say where they got the money from.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00So the fact that part of your evidence
0:11:00 > 0:11:03actually has them talking about money,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08that suggests that they must already have sold the paintings by 2004.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09Yes.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12We have indications that they sold the paintings quite fast.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16There is a wiretap dated in March 2003,
0:11:16 > 0:11:21when they are talking about an amount of 50,000 euros.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25And that was only half of what they were expecting.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Also, the police found out that they were buying watches, cars,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33they made trips to New York, to Disneyland in Paris.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Amsterdam is not only famous for its art,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45it's also been plagued by a violent criminal underworld.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51I've been told that, in early 2003,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Occy Durham attempted to sell the stolen Van Gogh paintings
0:11:55 > 0:11:59to a notorious figure in that Dutch underworld,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Cor van Hout,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05who, amongst other serious crimes, had previously been involved
0:12:05 > 0:12:08in the kidnapping of the heir to the Heineken fortune.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Occy and Cor were said to have been negotiating the price
0:12:13 > 0:12:14for the stolen pictures,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18but then Cor was suddenly assassinated in a gangland hit.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24That left Occy and his accomplice with a major problem.
0:12:24 > 0:12:25They needed a new buyer.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31There is one tantalising piece of evidence from a police wiretap made
0:12:31 > 0:12:35before Occy D was arrested, in which he describes the moment
0:12:35 > 0:12:37when he sold the paintings.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39He received the money,
0:12:39 > 0:12:44apparently, in a notorious club in the centre of Old Amsterdam,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48and he received it from a mysterious man called Pinocchio.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Then the trail went cold.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56They couldn't find anybody with an alias "Pinocchio".
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Occy Durham was put on trial in May 2004.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10The DNA and the wiretaps were enough to put him away.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison
0:13:15 > 0:13:20and ordered to pay 350,000 euros in compensation to the Van Gogh Museum.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25But he still wasn't saying what had happened to the paintings.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30Some organisation, or somebody, was keeping him very quiet indeed.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I was struck by something that the judge said at the end.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39He said something about what the crime was, a crime against...
0:13:39 > 0:13:40..against culture, almost.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Well, cultural heritage, Dutch cultural heritage.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45These are very important works of art,
0:13:45 > 0:13:51and it really struck me that they were stolen just for ordinary money
0:13:51 > 0:13:55and buying watches, going to New York, buying a car.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01These guys didn't know, whatsoever, what they were doing.
0:14:01 > 0:14:08In Holland, it's as if Dutch art really is part of the soul of the nation.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10I hope it is,
0:14:10 > 0:14:11at least for a lot of people.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I don't think, for the two burglars that were convicted in this case,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18I don't think they are art lovers.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21But mostly the Dutch, they do love art, yes.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47So why do we care so much about Van Gogh?
0:14:47 > 0:14:52Why does his work continue to move so many people
0:14:52 > 0:14:54from so many different backgrounds,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56so many different parts of the world?
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Well, I think it's partly because...
0:15:01 > 0:15:06..he traced the movements of his own troubled soul in art
0:15:06 > 0:15:12with such brilliance, such delicacy, such responsiveness,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16that you can't help but be affected by it.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Here, Vincent is having a good day.
0:15:19 > 0:15:26This is one of those days when nature seems touched by God's blessing.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31He looks at the tree in blossom, it's aflame like a candelabra.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35All is well. There'll be other, far darker paintings,
0:15:35 > 0:15:42and I think that's also one of the things that moves us about him,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45the fact that we know his life ended in tragedy.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47We know his life...
0:15:48 > 0:15:49..ended in darkness,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54and yet we can feel his struggle against the darkness throughout.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57So it's two things, it's genius and it's tragedy.
0:15:57 > 0:16:03And one forgets very easily that his career, from when he decided to be
0:16:03 > 0:16:07a painter to the moment he died, is astonishingly short,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09less than ten years.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14His maturity, his brilliant years, maybe just four.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18And I think it's that simplicity,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20tragedy and beauty of this life
0:16:20 > 0:16:23that has moved people ever since...
0:16:24 > 0:16:26..he was discovered after his death.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37The missing paintings tell their own stories as well,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and each has a special significance in Van Gogh's life and work.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51The thieves could never have known it,
0:16:51 > 0:16:57but when they stole this small, slightly dark seascape,
0:16:57 > 0:17:02they were actually stealing a really important little piece
0:17:02 > 0:17:05of Vincent van Gogh's career as an artist,...
0:17:06 > 0:17:12..because he painted this picture in the second half of August 1882.
0:17:12 > 0:17:18Up until that point, he'd only worked in watercolour and in pencil,
0:17:18 > 0:17:22but his brother Theo had encouraged him to paint in oils,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and, on this occasion, he followed the advice.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27He bought some tubes of oil paint,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31a new invention that allowed artists to come out into the landscape,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35and he came here, of all places, Scheveningen Beach,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37in the middle of a gale,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and he started painting this scene.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45Imagine added to it a boat and a few figures struggling with the sea.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Van Gogh struggled with his canvas.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51The wind blew so hard that, every time he applied paint,
0:17:51 > 0:17:52it became encrusted with sand.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55He had to scrape it off and start again.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Finally he finished.
0:17:57 > 0:18:03The result in the end was this small but potent image.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05And as he said to his brother...
0:18:06 > 0:18:10"I can't believe I never discovered oil painting before.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13"There's a kind of infinity in oil painting."
0:18:13 > 0:18:17"I can't put it into words. I feel that painting is in my marrow.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18"It's in my very bones."
0:18:20 > 0:18:21From that moment on,
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Van Gogh knew that he was destined to be a painter.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42The other missing painting from the heist was also of great personal
0:18:42 > 0:18:47significance both to Van Gogh and to his family,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52and one man was particularly affected by news of the theft.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Well, Vincent himself, he had no children.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58But his brother Theo, who was the most important person
0:18:58 > 0:18:59in Vincent's life,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03his brother Theo is my great-grandfather,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and I'm very proud to represent,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08well, Vincent and Theo's heritage.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13I'm trying to imagine how on earth it must have felt for you
0:19:13 > 0:19:16when this terrible news comes, in 2002,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19that these criminals have entered the museum
0:19:19 > 0:19:21and taken these two paintings.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23We didn't understand why they...
0:19:24 > 0:19:28..took these paintings, so it felt as a great loss.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30The Nuenen Church painting...
0:19:31 > 0:19:36..that's even more personal, I would imagine, to a family member,
0:19:36 > 0:19:41because I believe Vincent actually created it for his mother.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43He created it for his mother,
0:19:43 > 0:19:50early 1884 and Vincent's father passed away
0:19:50 > 0:19:54and he was a minister in the Reformed Church.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58And the church itself is the church in which Vincent's father,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00the pastor, used to preach, is that right?
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Used to preach, yeah.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04So it's one of the most personal...
0:20:06 > 0:20:07..paintings for...
0:20:08 > 0:20:10..the Van Gogh family.
0:20:10 > 0:20:11I suppose, often, when...
0:20:12 > 0:20:14..things of this kind are stolen,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17the hope is that they will come to light quite quickly.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20But sometimes, when it doesn't work out like that, there's the fear,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22you know, that maybe this is going to be a long process.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Maybe we'll never find them.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26What were your feelings?
0:20:26 > 0:20:29I felt quite pessimistic
0:20:29 > 0:20:32and I thought of these paintings very often
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and I thought, "Most possibly, I'll never see them again."
0:20:40 > 0:20:45So just how do you go about getting stolen paintings back?
0:20:46 > 0:20:49In 2005, in Hoorn, in northern Holland,
0:20:49 > 0:20:5424 Dutch masterpieces were snatched in a single heist,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56ripped from their frames.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04They disappeared for a decade.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09But some of them were suddenly recovered in 2016.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Their story gives a chilling and disturbing insight
0:21:13 > 0:21:17into the murky world of international art crime.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19There are no "art criminals"
0:21:19 > 0:21:21who earn their money only by stealing art,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24they are just plain criminals.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27But they don't care about what they are stealing.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Because, if you see how these paintings were treated,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33they were treated so badly.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36We got them back in very, very, very bad condition.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43But they didn't care, the paintings are just some goods to trade.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48They are a currency in the criminal circuit.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50So, um...
0:21:50 > 0:21:54..the thief, who stole our paintings,
0:21:54 > 0:21:59he probably got rid of them in two weeks or so.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01They changed hands a lot of times
0:22:01 > 0:22:05and, eventually, they turned up in Ukraine, of all places.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10The theft of the Westfries paintings
0:22:10 > 0:22:14was reported to international police art squads.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Although, how they subsequently got all the way to the Ukraine
0:22:17 > 0:22:18remains unclear.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The whole episode's an alarming indication
0:22:23 > 0:22:25of the global reach of organised crime.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29The stolen art was traded several times,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32finally ending up with Ukrainian warlords,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35intelligence officers and senior government officials.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40The man who was instrumental in finally recovering them
0:22:40 > 0:22:45is an independent art crime investigator, Arthur Brand.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50The art world and the criminal world are far more incorporated
0:22:50 > 0:22:52than most people think.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55So, let me into your world a little bit.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56Who do you have to deal with,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58where do you begin to look
0:22:58 > 0:23:01when something well-known, or even obscure, goes missing?
0:23:01 > 0:23:04This world is very small, the criminal underworld.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08And they talk like old ladies at a tea club.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12They gossip the whole day, so eventually you get a lead.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Stolen art goes from hand to hand very quickly.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17It's used as a...
0:23:18 > 0:23:20..as a banknote in the criminal underworld.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23So they use it for trading arms, drugs.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25What's the value in the underworld?
0:23:25 > 0:23:27The standard is 10%.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30It means, if you steal a painting worth 10 million,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35you can use it as a banknote in the underworld for a million.
0:23:35 > 0:23:3710% of the value on the open market.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45This use of paint on canvas as a black-market currency
0:23:45 > 0:23:47puts the art itself at great risk.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50You must understand, these criminals are not art experts.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54We are here in a room with perfect air-conditioning,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57perfect conditions for these paintings.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58These guys have no idea,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02they store it somewhere in a humid place
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and what you see is, after a couple of years,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08some of these paintings fall apart.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11So you cannot wait 20 years because it gets worse and worse.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Pictures come alive in a different way each time you look at them afresh.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26But if I've learned one lesson on this journey
0:24:26 > 0:24:29it's that criminals don't see paintings like that.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33They see them as objects, objects of exchange,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35collateral in drug deals,
0:24:35 > 0:24:41tokens, perhaps, in deals to be made with the cops or the courts.
0:24:43 > 0:24:51But going back to Amsterdam, by 2005, Occy the thief,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53he's been convicted.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55But he's not saying anything.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59Where could the paintings be?
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Holland? Somewhere unexpected like the Ukraine?
0:25:03 > 0:25:05The fact is, nobody knew.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09How were the pictures going to be recovered?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14We never stopped looking for the paintings
0:25:14 > 0:25:17and, during the years, our intelligence service
0:25:17 > 0:25:23sometimes they got some information about where the paintings might be.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Did you ever, in a dark moment, think
0:25:26 > 0:25:28maybe the paintings have been destroyed?
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Of course. On the other hand...
0:25:31 > 0:25:33..we always kept hope,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36so that's why we always looked into every information we got
0:25:36 > 0:25:39about the whereabouts of these paintings.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45In the absence of new information,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48the investigation here in Amsterdam stalled.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53But then, suddenly, there was a new lead 1,000 miles away.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10An earlier Van Gogh heist in Rome would eventually reveal,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12for the first time,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16concrete information about the Van Gogh paintings stolen in Amsterdam.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38And it was the recovery of this stolen Van Gogh
0:26:38 > 0:26:40that would provide the lead.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49This is Van Gogh's The Gardener, of 1889.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53A far cry from the paintings stolen from Amsterdam.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57This is a picture that dates towards the end of his life,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59the colours are much brighter.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01But there's a darkness here, too.
0:27:02 > 0:27:081889 was the year in which Van Gogh was confined to a lunatic asylum.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Not long before creating this work of art,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14he was found in his studio in the asylum,
0:27:14 > 0:27:19having drunk kerosene from his lamp, having eaten his own paint,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24apparently in the first attempt at suicide.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29So why would he paint a gardener at this terrible time?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32I think he had in mind a story from the Bible,
0:27:32 > 0:27:33Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene
0:27:33 > 0:27:36as a gardener after his resurrection.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38I also think it's important to remember
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Van Gogh had been a deeply Christian man,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42had been a preacher in his youth,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46tended to think in biblical terms.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Is he looking for some hope of finding Christ again,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53finding some kind of salvation for himself?
0:27:53 > 0:27:54We can never say for sure,
0:27:54 > 0:27:59but we can say that this is a deeply poignant image.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01A deeply vulnerable painting
0:28:01 > 0:28:05and, here in Rome, at the end of the 20th century,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09it would, once again, prove to be vulnerable,
0:28:09 > 0:28:11but in a rather different way.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Masked gunmen have stolen three priceless works of art from a museum in Rome.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Thieves tied up three security guards
0:28:25 > 0:28:28before getting away with two paintings by Van Gogh
0:28:28 > 0:28:30and one by Cezanne.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Italy's elite Carabinieri art squad,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40one of the top art crime units in Europe,
0:28:40 > 0:28:45put one of their most senior and experienced detectives on the case,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47Colonel Ferdinando Musella.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Colonel Musella's experience in recovering The Gardener
0:29:34 > 0:29:37would prove crucial when he next got a lead
0:29:37 > 0:29:40on the two Van Goghs stolen in Holland.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44I'd heard that, in 2007, he received some very promising information.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46So I asked him if he could talk about it.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32It's a shame he didn't want to talk about the 2007 operation,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35because I've heard a lot about that, a lot of rumours.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Great stories of policemen dressed up as Neapolitan pimps,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41with blondes on their arm,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45posing as interested purchasers of the pictures.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50But I guess the one thing we do know about that operation
0:30:50 > 0:30:52is that it didn't work,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56because after 2007, the paintings still remained unrecovered.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01What was clear from Musella's investigations
0:31:01 > 0:31:04was that whoever owned the Van Gogh Museum's missing paintings
0:31:04 > 0:31:06was almost certainly Italian.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Which would explain his Italian nickname - Pinocchio.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Meanwhile, more Van Gogh paintings were going missing from galleries
0:31:14 > 0:31:16around the world.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19In 2008, in Switzerland,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21this Van Gogh painting was stolen.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24Two years after that, in 2010,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27thieves took an earlier work from a museum in Egypt.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34In Amsterdam, six years went by with no reliable leads
0:31:34 > 0:31:36to the missing Van Gogh pictures.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39But, in 2016, everything changed.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Thanks to a quiet, but persistent investigation
0:31:43 > 0:31:47in one of Italy's most violent, most beautiful cities.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22Normally, I come to Naples, well, of course, for the coffee,
0:32:22 > 0:32:23for the opera,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26for the great masterpieces in the museums and churches
0:32:26 > 0:32:31and just for the ramshackle beauty of the old city.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56But there's another darker side of Naples.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Under normal circumstances,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00I steer clear of it.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02But these aren't normal circumstances.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09ITALIAN RAP MUSIC PLAYS
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Organised crime has plagued Naples for years.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50One of the region's senior prosecutors
0:33:50 > 0:33:54leading the fight against it is Stefania Castaldi.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Who or what are the Camorra?
0:34:28 > 0:34:32Well, they are one of the oldest and largest
0:34:32 > 0:34:36criminal organisations in Italy,
0:34:36 > 0:34:41made up of a number of often ferociously competing factions.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Unlike the Mafia, which is based in Sicily,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48the Camorra has its roots in Naples,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52although its tentacles have reached across the world.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56- NEWSREEL: - The soldiers poured into Naples...
0:34:56 > 0:34:59Largely stamped out under Mussolini,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02the Camorra captured power again during the Second World War,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05when the US military made secret deals
0:35:05 > 0:35:09with crime bosses to overthrow the Italian dictator.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14Today, the Camorra's main activities include drug-trafficking,
0:35:14 > 0:35:19the illegal dumping of toxic waste, money laundering, extortion,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22prostitution, murder,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25and the occasional dealings in stolen art.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30And just a matter of months after the Van Goghs were pinched,
0:35:30 > 0:35:32a brutal war broke out in Naples
0:35:32 > 0:35:35between different factions of the Camorra
0:35:35 > 0:35:38for control of the drug trade.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00Much of that turf war was fought out here in Scampia,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03a '60s urban development in the north of Naples.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31A local journalist has been covering the area
0:36:31 > 0:36:33and the Camorra wars for years.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39So why did the Camorra have such a stronghold in Scampia?
0:36:39 > 0:36:43What's special about Scampia to make this a hotbed for drugs?
0:36:43 > 0:36:49Every mafia is stronger in areas with many poor families.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Unemployed people must try to get money.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58And Camorra uses desperation of people to make power.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02So it feeds, like every mafia, it feeds on poverty
0:37:02 > 0:37:03and feeds on despair.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05This is the mafia story.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09So instead of becoming a baker, or a pharmacist,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12you become a drug dealer, because it's the only way to go up.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28It was just like a war.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31All for this control of drug business?
0:37:31 > 0:37:34- Yes.- Do we know how much money is at stake here,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37for the group of the Camorra that wins control of Scampia,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40how much can they hope to make in one year?
0:37:40 > 0:37:43We said that drugs money, when they buy
0:37:43 > 0:37:47- a big...- Consignment? - They take all the money
0:37:47 > 0:37:52- in a big, um, sacco...- In a bag. - ..and lo pesano.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55And they weigh it! They don't count the money, they weigh the money?
0:37:55 > 0:37:56Yes.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06Scampia, it's a tough place, you can feel it's a tough place.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09The truth is that decisions made here in the 1960s
0:38:09 > 0:38:15that led to the creation of these honeycomb-like buildings,
0:38:15 > 0:38:21created perfect conditions for those wasps, the Camorra, to flourish.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25That led to a horrendous drugs war in which many,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27many people lost their lives.
0:38:27 > 0:38:35At the end of which, someone ended up with an awful lot of blood money.
0:38:36 > 0:38:37But who was that person?
0:38:40 > 0:38:44In the prosecutor's office, Stefania Castaldi's investigation
0:38:44 > 0:38:48was getting close to senior Camorra crime bosses.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52And then she made a significant discovery, which,
0:38:52 > 0:38:54for the very first time,
0:38:54 > 0:38:55would provide a direct link
0:38:55 > 0:38:58to the Van Gogh paintings stolen in Amsterdam.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57But who is Raffaele Imperiale,
0:39:57 > 0:40:01and just how is he connected to the missing paintings?
0:40:04 > 0:40:07This is the picturesque town of Castellammare,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09overlooking the Bay of Naples.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13A far cry, you might think, from Scampia,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15but the influence of the Camorra reaches even here.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23It's not everyday that I find myself in the back of a police car.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27But today I'm being shown around Imperiale's home turf
0:40:27 > 0:40:30by Colonel Giovanni Salerno, an expert on the case.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37From his Amsterdam coffee shop, legally selling cannabis,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Imperiale would expand his business,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44eventually organising large-scale shipments of drugs for the Camorra.
0:42:12 > 0:42:13By his own account,
0:42:13 > 0:42:18Imperiale was earning between 15 and 20 million euros a year
0:42:18 > 0:42:19from drug-trafficking.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24But there was still no sign of the missing Van Goghs,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28stolen and first sold to Pinocchio in Amsterdam over ten years earlier.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35The breakthrough came in September 2016,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39and it came from a pretty unusual source - the suspect himself.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Mario Cerrone was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21But although Imperiale was put on trial in Naples,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24he wasn't going to jail any time soon.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27He had the foresight to relocate to Dubai,
0:43:27 > 0:43:30which has no extradition treaty with Italy.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33He was well out of reach of the authorities.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Raffaele Imperiale spilled all the beans to the Italian prosecutors
0:43:38 > 0:43:42in an extraordinary written confession.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44Here it is.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Dated the 29th of August 2016.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54"Io, sottoscritto Raffaele Imperiale..."
0:43:54 > 0:43:58"I, the undersigned Raffaele Imperiale,
0:43:58 > 0:44:03born in Castellammare di Stabia, declare the following."
0:44:03 > 0:44:09Now he goes into great detail about how he got into the drug business
0:44:09 > 0:44:12in Amsterdam in the 1990s,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15and he goes into surprising detail
0:44:15 > 0:44:18about just how much money he was making.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22"Migliaia di chili di cocaina..."
0:44:22 > 0:44:26He says, "Thousands of kilos of cocaine were being sold."
0:44:28 > 0:44:30And what did he do with that money?
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Well, as far as we're concerned,
0:44:32 > 0:44:36the interesting part comes at the very end
0:44:36 > 0:44:38of this lengthy document.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41In annexe one,
0:44:41 > 0:44:45part of Imperiale's listing of his personal possessions,
0:44:45 > 0:44:49which he's prepared to surrender to the state.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52"Due quadri di Vincent van Gogh."
0:44:52 > 0:44:55"Two paintings by Vincent van Gogh."
0:44:55 > 0:44:57"Di valore inestimabile"
0:44:57 > 0:45:03"Of priceless worth, which I purchased in 2002,
0:45:03 > 0:45:09"using the resources of the organisation, for five million euros."
0:45:11 > 0:45:19Now we know the real identity of Pinocchio - Raffaele Imperiale.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23This is the only known photograph of him, rather blurry,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26taken surreptitiously on the Isle of Man,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28where I imagine he was...
0:45:29 > 0:45:34..laundering some drug money, putting some funds offshore.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But why would he have said that he paid five million euros
0:45:37 > 0:45:39for the paintings
0:45:39 > 0:45:44when the Dutch were sure that only 100,000 euros had changed hands?
0:45:44 > 0:45:46It's certainly very Pinocchio.
0:45:46 > 0:45:47HE WHISTLES
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Why exaggerate?
0:45:50 > 0:45:53Why would he have wanted the paintings in the first place?
0:45:53 > 0:45:56And why did he confess?
0:46:01 > 0:46:04The answers lie in the Italian legal system itself,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07in a clause designed to encourage witnesses to speak out
0:46:07 > 0:46:09against organised crime.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Imperiale always knew that valuable stolen goods, like the Van Goghs,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18could be traded against time in prison.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Well, it's quite something to meet someone
0:47:18 > 0:47:21who was at the epicentre of the Camorra drug wars
0:47:21 > 0:47:23in the early 2000s.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Goodness knows how many people she's put away,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27goodness knows what she's seen.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32But I think what she really nailed was the question of motive.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36You know, the question that's been bugging me throughout
0:47:36 > 0:47:38this investigation, if you like,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42why do these bad guys, why do they want paintings
0:47:42 > 0:47:44by the great artists, like Van Gogh?
0:47:44 > 0:47:47They know perfectly well that they can never sell them.
0:47:47 > 0:47:48Well, as Stefania explained,
0:47:48 > 0:47:52it's written into the Italian legal code that if you...
0:47:52 > 0:47:54..if you give up some of your ill-gotten gains,
0:47:54 > 0:47:55if you return them...
0:47:56 > 0:47:59..you get a much lower sentence.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01And if you have got something as valuable,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03not just to Italy but to the world,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07as a pair of paintings by Van Gogh, they are, if you like,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09the crook's ultimate bargaining chips
0:48:09 > 0:48:11when it comes to the final reckoning
0:48:11 > 0:48:13- how many years is he going to get behind bars?
0:48:20 > 0:48:21But after all this,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24still the question - where were the paintings?
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Although Imperiale's father has never taken part in
0:48:40 > 0:48:43his son's criminal activities, or been investigated,
0:48:43 > 0:48:45the search switched to his property.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15After nearly 14 years,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18the international investigation into the theft of
0:49:18 > 0:49:23two priceless Van Gogh paintings ended in an Italian kitchen.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27The search was finally over.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07The missing Van Gogh paintings were finally resurrected
0:50:07 > 0:50:11before the eyes of the world at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51These just symbolise the story of a miracle, really,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54because it's real coup that these works have been found again.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57And it's also a matter of, of course,
0:50:57 > 0:51:00local and national pride here in Italy.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03It's a coup against, also, the organised crime.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07So, in that sense, it is a celebration on many levels.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12There's now this added dimension of the crime and good versus evil,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14and now the good has won.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19It has always been an open wound, in a way, for all these years.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22And even though those works may not be,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25on the face of it, really famous works by Vincent van Gogh,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28they're really important, first, historically
0:51:28 > 0:51:29and also in terms of the family history
0:51:29 > 0:51:31and the personal history of the artist.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33So, in that sense, you know,
0:51:33 > 0:51:35they really left a gap when they disappeared
0:51:35 > 0:51:38and we're very happy that we can fill that gap again.
0:51:52 > 0:51:53Six months later,
0:51:53 > 0:51:58the paintings finally came back home to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Before going back on permanent display,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11they need some tender loving care.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30Well, the first thing that was clearly visible
0:52:30 > 0:52:34when they came back was that, in the left corner,
0:52:34 > 0:52:35a piece is missing.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39- I can see.- The original support and the paint layers.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44It's a piece approximately two by seven centimetres.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Quite a fragile thing, then.
0:52:46 > 0:52:47- Yeah.- But, all in all,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50I would say, given its status...
0:52:50 > 0:52:51Mm-hmm.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55..as possibly the very earliest oil painting by Vincent van Gogh,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57it's actually in really good nick.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59Yeah, it is, quite, yeah.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01Very happy
0:53:01 > 0:53:04that no more severe damage has been done to the painting.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Yeah. Now, in his letters,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11he says it's so difficult because the wind is blowing,
0:53:11 > 0:53:12there's this terrible storm.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14- Yeah.- And he actually refers to the fact
0:53:14 > 0:53:16that the painting gets covered in sand.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Have you found any evidence of that,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22looking at the picture under the microscope or in X-ray?
0:53:22 > 0:53:23Yeah, yeah, we have.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27It's difficult to see with the naked eye,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30but with the microscope they are clearly visible.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34Especially in the sea part, you can see them everywhere, actually.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36What a thing.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41It is extraordinary that this painting,
0:53:41 > 0:53:42which was stolen...
0:53:44 > 0:53:47..should have gone on this huge circular journey
0:53:47 > 0:53:50and have come all the way back, now, here.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52And I think at the time when it was stolen,
0:53:52 > 0:53:54some people tried to be cheerful by saying,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58"Oh, well, at least it's not one of Van Gogh's great paintings."
0:53:58 > 0:53:59Mm-hmm.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02But when I look at it now with you, it seems to me that,
0:54:02 > 0:54:04well, that was wrong.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06It might not be one of his masterpieces,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09but it's a very, very important painting.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13It's a very important piece of his wonderful,
0:54:13 > 0:54:15tragic, beautiful life.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18- Yes.- Because it's really the first time that we see him taking
0:54:18 > 0:54:20this material, oil paint,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22that he would do such magical things with
0:54:22 > 0:54:24and becoming excited by using it.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27- Yeah.- So it's a fantastically important picture.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29- Yes.- It's a wonderful thing that it's come back.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Yeah, it is.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34It's the beginning of something, it's wonderfully exciting.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52So, Willem, here it is.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54- Here it is.- How amazing!
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Wow. Incredible.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59And you can imagine how extremely happy we were
0:54:59 > 0:55:03and really, really touched that this painting...
0:55:05 > 0:55:10..came back home, back in its own home, the Van Gogh Museum.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14Wonderful. I feel very lucky, actually, to be here with you,
0:55:14 > 0:55:16looking at the painting.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19Initially, he made this
0:55:19 > 0:55:22and dedicated this painting to his mother.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25His father passed away one year later
0:55:25 > 0:55:30and he wanted to make a tribute to his father,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and he added all those figures, darkly painted,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36as if they are attending a funeral,
0:55:36 > 0:55:40and symbolically the funeral of his father, of course.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42- Goodness.- Yeah.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46- Beautiful painting. Really, really. - It is a beautiful painting.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02At its heart, this has been a story, for me,
0:56:02 > 0:56:07about the sacred and the profane.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Think of Vincent van Gogh,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14with his sacred sense of mission to be a painter,
0:56:15 > 0:56:20striving, struggling to create these visions of a blessed world.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24And then...
0:56:26 > 0:56:28..think of the murky underworld,
0:56:28 > 0:56:32inhabited by characters like Raffaele Imperiale,
0:56:32 > 0:56:38a man prepared to use his drug money to buy, on the black market...
0:56:40 > 0:56:42..paintings by Van Gogh.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48I don't think we should be surprised by the links
0:56:48 > 0:56:54between the criminal world and the world of great art,
0:56:54 > 0:56:56because criminals aren't stupid.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01They know, they understand, the great value
0:57:01 > 0:57:04that we set on works of art by the great painters.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07They understand that...
0:57:08 > 0:57:10..if they own one or two of those things,
0:57:10 > 0:57:14when the time comes for their last judgment...
0:57:15 > 0:57:17..they can use them, they can give them back...
0:57:18 > 0:57:20..in order to get a few years off.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24The very nature of the transaction,
0:57:24 > 0:57:29in which the masterpiece is the criminal's bargaining chip,
0:57:29 > 0:57:34means that, in almost every case, we will get the paintings back.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39But it isn't a straightforward process
0:57:39 > 0:57:41and you do always need a little stroke of luck.
0:57:43 > 0:57:44So if you hadn't been
0:57:45 > 0:57:47looking that deeply into the organisation...
0:57:47 > 0:57:48- Yes. - ..you would never have got him...
0:57:48 > 0:57:51- Yes.- ..and you would never have known about these Van Goghs.
0:57:51 > 0:57:52Yes.