Turkish police seize Picasso’s masterpiece in anti-smuggling operation

Turkish security forces launched a massive operation in Istanbul on Friday night targeting terrorism, drugs, smuggling and organized crime. In the operation, police seized Pablo Picasso's 1940-dated masterpiece "Nude Dressing Her Hair."

According to information gathered from security sources, the artwork was stolen from a collector's house in New York and was brought to Istanbul by the smugglers.

Policemen pretending to be buyers met two times with the smugglers. In the first meeting, two officers bargained on the price of the painting and agreed to pay the fugitives seven million dollars.

The second meeting took place in a cafe in the district of Fatih in Istanbul. Seeing that the smugglers brought the masterpiece with them, the officers immediately detained the two and seized the painting.

Security sources also added that the painting was being searched for by the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) and many other foreign security forces. The sources further added that the painting was sent to the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University for examination.

Police sources said nearly 5,000 officers were involved in the operation named after Istanbul's seven hills.

The operation "Peace in the Seven Hills" was backed by helicopters and involved raids on predetermined addresses throughout the night.