Italian police have uncovered a large-scale pan-European forgery network making and selling fake artworks attributed to some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art, including Banksy, Pablo Picasso,

Italy’s art police are investigating 38 people being and have seized more than 2,000 works of art since beginning the operation in 2023.

Italian authorities say they have dismantled a network of European art forgers who made fake Warhols, Banksys and Picassos and then tried to sell them with the help of complicit auction houses.

Stefano Antonelli, the founder of the Banksy Study Centre and Archive Foundation, says that most of the Banksy works confiscated were stamped “Dismaland”, the dystopian theme park opened by the notorious street artist in Weston-super-Mare, UK, in 2015.

Italian police have uncovered a large-scale pan-European forgery network that makes and sells fake artworks attributed to some of the biggest names

Italian authorities say the network could have done 200 million euros ($212 million) in economic damage by flooding the art market with fake works.

According to Italian officials, a criminal network operating across Europe has forged artworks by Banksy, Picasso, and Warhol. An international operation resulted in the seizure of more than 2,100 forged pieces across Italy,

The operation uncovered a network of forgers in Spain, France and Belgium who produced the works, said Eurojust, the European Union agency for judicial cooperation.

Fake Banksy artworks that were sized by police are show in Rome in this handout image provided by the Italian Culture Ministry on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Italian Cul