Joint operation of the Tax Agency and Civil Guard

• The traveler who was carrying the work attempted to bring it into Spain without declaring it and, upon request from Customs, provided a handwritten invoice for 1,500 Swiss francs.
• After an inspection of the luggage, investigators discovered another invoice from a gallery in Zurich and worth 450,000 francs, which identifies the work as 'Trois personnages', from 1966.
• The authorities in matters of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts have considered, on a preliminary basis and in the absence of more exhaustive reports, that the work is original and that the price invoiced by the gallery adjusts to the market price.

July 18, 2022 .- Customs officials of the Tax Agency and agents of the Civil Guard, within the framework of a joint operation, have intervened for smuggling, on July 5 in Ibiza airport, a drawing attributed to Pablo Picasso. The work, 'Trois personnages' (1966), was found in the luggage of a traveler from Switzerland who was attempting to introduce the work into Spain without declaring it.

Investigators discovered in his luggage the invoice from a Swiss gallery in Zurich for 450,000 Swiss francs (an equivalent amount in euros). The authorities in matters of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts have considered, on a preliminary basis and in the absence of more exhaustive reports, that the work is original and that the price invoiced by the gallery adjusts to the market price.

The action has its origin in information sent by Swiss Customs to the Permanent Operational Coordination Center of the Customs Department of the Tax Agency about a traveler who, originating in the Swiss country, was on a commercial flight Zurich-Ibiza carrying a work of art in circumstances that Swiss authorities considered suspicious.

Following this information, an operation was set up, made up of Customs officials from the Tax Agency and Civil Guard agents, to intervene in the work in the event that the traveler tried to introduce it without a declaration, thus removing it from the control of the Spanish customs authorities.

A handwritten invoice for 1,500 francs

Upon arrival at Ibiza airport, the traveler denied to the investigators' questions that he had anything to declare and crossed the corresponding green channel. His luggage was immediately checked, finding inside a work of art signed by Picasso. At that point, the traveler went on to claim that it was a copy and showed a handwritten invoice for 1,500 Swiss francs.

However, in the thorough search of his luggage, a second invoice was found, this time from an art gallery in Zurich, for a value of 450,000 Swiss francs, in which the title of the work 'Trois personnages' appears, of 1966, which corresponded to the work of art subject to customs verifications.

In this situation, and given the theft of the work of art from the customs authorities, the sheet was seized for an alleged crime of smuggling, having been introduced without declaration from Switzerland (non-customs territory of the European Union) work of art whose value would clearly exceed the established legal limits.

Since it is a good that exceeds 150,000 euros and that has been introduced without a customs declaration despite express questions from the authorities regarding whether the passenger had something to declare, an alleged crime of smuggling would have been committed, in accordance with the provisions in Organic Law 12/1995, on the Repression of Smuggling.

The lawful introduction of the work into Spain would have implied having to pay customs duties and VAT on import, in addition to the administrative declaration obligations to which the merchandise was subject.

Preliminary analysis of the work

After the intervention of the work, negotiations were carried out with the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture, which contacted an expert in contemporary art, the director of the Museu d'Art Contemporani, to examine the work. d'Eivissa, which has reported positively, on a preliminary basis, on the originality of the intervened work and its market value, which would correspond to the price invoiced by the Swiss gallery.

For definitive accreditation, more exhaustive reports will be required, which will have to be carried out later by experts in Picasso's work using advanced techniques.

The work of art is at the disposal of the Court of Instruction 4 of Ibiza, which is in charge of investigating the facts.