The illicit trade in cultural objects is now widely recognized as one of the most prevalent categories of international crime. The proceeds of thefts, forgery, ransoms, and smuggling operations involving cultural objects are often used to fund other criminal activities, the objects themselves serving as both a medium of exchange between criminals and a means of laundering the profits of crime.

The police have long recognised the importance of good documentation in the fight against art thieves. Documentation is indeed crucial to the protection of art and antiques, for police officers can rarely recover and return objects that have not been photographed and adequately described. Police forces have custody of large numbers of objects that have been recovered in the course of operations, but which cannot be returned to their rightful owners because there is no documentation that makes it possible to identify the victims.