'Scream' thieves face bigger challenge
From CNN Correspondent Jim Boulden
 |  This version of "The Scream" was stolen from the museum on Sunday. |
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 'The Scream' may have been stolen in broad daylight, but it'll be hard to sell.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The thieves behind the brazen daytime heist of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" in Oslo may have a tough task ahead of them.
In the murky underworld of art theft, the hard part could be unloading one of the most famous paintings in the world.
Art experts say the more famous the piece, the harder it is to sell on the black market.
"Their options are either ransom it back, take a reward for returning it, or pass it on amongst the other criminals maybe for a few kilo of drugs," says Tony Russell, who works for Art Recovery Ltd and has been tracking art thieves for 25 years.
The global group Art Loss Register tracks stolen goods on behalf of insurance companies and victims.
Experts from the group estimate art crime ranks fourth behind drugs, money laundering and illegal arms.
"We are not talking here about an art lover who's got the world's masterpieces on his wall. This is a nasty crime. Its linked to organized crime, gun running, drugs, and the idea is to convert art works into cash," says Sarah Jackson from The Art Loss Register.
The insurance industry estimates some five billion dollars worth of artwork is stolen every year, with only about five percent of that ever recovered.
But if it is a well-known piece of artwork, then the odds of recovery go up greatly. Paintings worth tens of millions of dollars are often returned in exchange for ransom.
Blomqvist Fine Arts, Norway's oldest auction house, has estimated the value of "The Scream" at between $59.6 million to $74.5 million.
But the real money is in stealing art worth much less money that can easily be sold on without much notice.
More than half of all art is stolen from homes, with much of that sold through the Internet.
Only 12 percent is stolen from museums with the same amount also stolen from galleries.
Ironically, a crackdown on stolen art coming back onto the market through auctions has kept many pieces from resurfacing and a crackdown on money laundering is making it harder for criminals to move cash around.
So a portable piece of art like a tiny Leonardi Da Vinci masterpiece stolen last year is becoming the currency of choice among criminal gangs.
