Stealing Valuable Art

A while ago there was a post of a Newyorker story about a French art thief. I really enjoyed reading it. In case somone missed it:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18855717

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/the-french-bur...

I always wanted to steal a valuable artwork as a kid, and hang it on my wall. I wasn't really into art, and still am not. I wasn't looking for profit. I just wanted to defeat a large system and walk out with something that was "my little secret," that I could look at every morning and think of how I outwitted the system.

Still a thought I have at the back of my head sometimes. Obviously wouldn't do it.

> many high-value art thefts in the past ten to fifteen years has been the potential for stolen works to be used as collateral linked to drug deals.

This is alluded to, twice, but not explained. Is this a form of money laundering, or a deal at a distance - contraband is delivered in country A, artwork in country B? I don’t see how “collateral” plays a part, unless one party “loans” drugs in exchange for artwork, and the second party pays off the loan and recovers the artwork after selling the drugs onward.

For those confused, the link should be: https://www.delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?p=4220