Special Agent to Brief Students on the Craft of Catching Art Thieves

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Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (April 10, 2015) – Brent Easter, senior special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, will present his lecture "Catching Art Thieves and Dismantling Smuggling Networks" from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Baylor Law School Room 127.
"Antiquities trafficking and smuggling is one of the biggest crimes in the world, just behind drugs and arms. It doesn't have near the amount of law enforcement power to go against it," said Nathan Elkins, Ph.D., assistant professor of art history in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences. "There are only a few people in this country, such as Brent Easter, who actively combat it from a law enforcement angle."
Before his career in Homeland Security Investigations, Easter was an archeology student at Boston University. He went on to pursue Homeland Security Investigations by first working on the border. He later moved into the intellectual properties division.
Easter will talk about some of his completed operations and cases and how he detects smuggling networks, sharing how he and his colleagues identify and return stolen art objects. Most ancient art on the art market has been looted or smuggled at some point, Elkins said.
"There's a perception that it is white-collar crime that has no victims," Elkins said. "Hopefully the event will be an eye-opener and will raise awareness."
The lecture is free and open to the public, co-sponsored by Baylor's department of art, Baylor Law School and the University Lecture Committee.
A reception will follow the lecture.
Baylor Law School is Located at 1114 S. University Parks Drive in Waco.
For more information, contact Nathan_Elkins@baylor.edu
by Sarah Czerwinski, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

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