"OSA was founded in 2002 under the name Oakland School for the Arts, its acronym being OSA. But the real meaning behind OSA is not what you would think. OSA really stands for Operation Smuggle Art."-- Mila Boyden, 8th grade
The following article is a special May investigation by the OSA Shallot staff, aiming to bring you the very best of the campus' fake news.
Oakland School for the Arts is an art-focused middle and high school located in Oakland, CA. The school was founded in 2002 under the name Oakland School for the Arts, its acronym being OSA. But the real meaning behind OSA is not what you would think. OSA really stands for Operation Smuggle Art.
On April 1st, 2024, a $1.5 billion art smuggling ring was brought down by the FBI. Jerry Brown allegedly partnered with the head of the operation and created Oakland School for the Arts as a cover. It was run by OSA students, using OSA as their headquarters since 2002 (the investigators on the case have yet to find where their headquarters was before 2002). The operation ran for 34 years, starting in 1990 and ending in 2024. So when did OSA start and why? Who was behind it? And how did they get caught?
Oakland School for the Arts is an art-focused middle and high school located in Oakland, CA. The school was founded in 2002 under the name Oakland School for the Arts, its acronym being OSA. But the real meaning behind OSA is not what you would think. OSA really stands for Operation Smuggle Art.
On April 1st, 2024, a $1.5 billion art smuggling ring was brought down by the FBI. Jerry Brown allegedly partnered with the head of the operation and created Oakland School for the Arts as a cover. It was run by OSA students, using OSA as their headquarters since 2002 (the investigators on the case have yet to find where their headquarters was before 2002). The operation ran for 34 years, starting in 1990 and ending in 2024. So when did OSA start and why? Who was behind it? And how did they get caught?
When Did OSA Start?
In an exclusive interview with the woman behind the whole operation (her attorneys requested that she remain anonymous under the code name CrimeBossforLif3), I learned that the operation started on March 18th, 1990. Does March 18th sound familiar to anybody? That's because it’s the same day as the infamous Boston Robbery.
On March 18th, 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed by two people dressed as police officers at 1:30 a.m.
According to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, “In the early hours of March 18, a vehicle pulled up near the side entrance of the Museum. Two men in police uniforms pushed the Museum buzzer, stated they were responding to a disturbance, and requested to be let in. The guard on duty broke protocol and allowed them through the employee entrance. At the fake officers’ request, he stepped away from the watch desk. He and a second security guard were handcuffed and tied up in the basement of the Museum. The thieves departed with 13 of Gardner's works of art 81 minutes later…The return of Gardner's works remains a top priority. The Museum, the FBI, and the US Attorney's office are still seeking viable leads that could result in the safe return of the art. The Museum is offering a $10 million dollar reward for information leading directly to the safe return of the stolen works (A share of the reward would be given in exchange for information leading to the restitution of any portion of the works). A separate reward of $100,000 is being offered for the return of the Napoleonic Eagle Finial.”
The Napoleonic Eagle Finial was the symbol of the first regiment of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. None of the artifacts or art pieces have been found yet and no solid evidence pointing the crime to anyone who might have done it has emerged. To this day there are still empty frames hanging up in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum exhibits, waiting for their painting to be returned.
The investigation is still ongoing making it the largest unsolved art heist in history… until it was solved on April 1, 2024 when CrimeBossforLif3 confessed to everything. “I was the one who robbed the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum back in 1990. I had been watching a little too much Brooklyn 99 that night… I found the Pontiac Bandit inspiring. I mean who wouldn't, right? He gets to do whatever he wants and gets away with it, which is honestly the dream. So I decided to have a crack at it. I was gonna steal the Mona Lisa (the one that my mom had painted) but it wasn’t there for some reason, maybe it was in France or something… anyways it turned out I was pretty good at stealing, smuggling, buying and selling art, the perfect skill set for running an art smuggling ring, so I was like, ‘score!”
“After the Boston Museum robbery I did some small-scale stealing and smuggling for the next 20 years, I built a vast network of connections and eventually founded OSA.” CrimeBossforLif3 explained. “Since then I’ve been hiding at the school, disguised as a student under different names and faces over the years."
On March 18th, 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed by two people dressed as police officers at 1:30 a.m.
According to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, “In the early hours of March 18, a vehicle pulled up near the side entrance of the Museum. Two men in police uniforms pushed the Museum buzzer, stated they were responding to a disturbance, and requested to be let in. The guard on duty broke protocol and allowed them through the employee entrance. At the fake officers’ request, he stepped away from the watch desk. He and a second security guard were handcuffed and tied up in the basement of the Museum. The thieves departed with 13 of Gardner's works of art 81 minutes later…The return of Gardner's works remains a top priority. The Museum, the FBI, and the US Attorney's office are still seeking viable leads that could result in the safe return of the art. The Museum is offering a $10 million dollar reward for information leading directly to the safe return of the stolen works (A share of the reward would be given in exchange for information leading to the restitution of any portion of the works). A separate reward of $100,000 is being offered for the return of the Napoleonic Eagle Finial.”
The Napoleonic Eagle Finial was the symbol of the first regiment of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. None of the artifacts or art pieces have been found yet and no solid evidence pointing the crime to anyone who might have done it has emerged. To this day there are still empty frames hanging up in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum exhibits, waiting for their painting to be returned.
The investigation is still ongoing making it the largest unsolved art heist in history… until it was solved on April 1, 2024 when CrimeBossforLif3 confessed to everything. “I was the one who robbed the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum back in 1990. I had been watching a little too much Brooklyn 99 that night… I found the Pontiac Bandit inspiring. I mean who wouldn't, right? He gets to do whatever he wants and gets away with it, which is honestly the dream. So I decided to have a crack at it. I was gonna steal the Mona Lisa (the one that my mom had painted) but it wasn’t there for some reason, maybe it was in France or something… anyways it turned out I was pretty good at stealing, smuggling, buying and selling art, the perfect skill set for running an art smuggling ring, so I was like, ‘score!”
“After the Boston Museum robbery I did some small-scale stealing and smuggling for the next 20 years, I built a vast network of connections and eventually founded OSA.” CrimeBossforLif3 explained. “Since then I’ve been hiding at the school, disguised as a student under different names and faces over the years."
Why Did OSA Start?
The short answer? The Mona Lisa.
Apparently, smuggling runs in the family. CrimeBossforLif3 confessed that her father was a major crime lord and had stolen the Mona Lisa. She explained that her mother was an artist and had painted a fake Mona Lisa so that her father could replace the original with the fake one. “By the time I was in my junior year in high school my parents had to flee to the country because the FBI was beginning to get too close to the truth about the Mona Lisa.”
“I wasn’t able to go with my parents to wherever they went so I followed in their footsteps and turned to a life of crime,” CrimeBossforLif3 said.
Apparently, smuggling runs in the family. CrimeBossforLif3 confessed that her father was a major crime lord and had stolen the Mona Lisa. She explained that her mother was an artist and had painted a fake Mona Lisa so that her father could replace the original with the fake one. “By the time I was in my junior year in high school my parents had to flee to the country because the FBI was beginning to get too close to the truth about the Mona Lisa.”
“I wasn’t able to go with my parents to wherever they went so I followed in their footsteps and turned to a life of crime,” CrimeBossforLif3 said.
Who Was Behind the Operation?
Although I can’t release CrimeBossforLife3’s real name I am able to hint at their identity. CrimeBossforLif3 was born on October 4th 1973, making her around 17 when she robbed the Boston Museum. She was 29 when she founded Operation Smuggle Art and is currently 51 years old and somehow is still able to pass as a middle or highschool student. Currently she is disguised as an eighth grade production design student. “Being disguised as a Production Design student helped me hide and smuggle countless pieces of artwork. The shop classroom in Newberry is really helpful, it’s really easy to hide a painting inside a pile of wood or behind some machinery,” CrimeBossforLif3 explained.
When asked how she hides her age so well she responded by saying “I just wear a lot of makeup like a lot a lot, it helps hide the wrinkles and eye bags you know?”
When asked how she hides her age so well she responded by saying “I just wear a lot of makeup like a lot a lot, it helps hide the wrinkles and eye bags you know?”
Why Did They Get Caught?
So how did this $1.5 billion operation work? How did it fall? And how was CrimeBossforLife3 caught?
Using Oakland School for the Arts’ main building, located on 530 18th St and which actually wraps around the iconic Fox Theater, to store most of the stolen artwork and artifacts, CrimeBossforLif3 had OSA students working as her henchmen. The investigation as to who these students were is currently ongoing. At the moment, none of the students’ identities have been released. While CrimeBossforLif3 would steal artwork, the students would smuggle and hide the artwork in and out of OSA’s main building, often using their art classrooms to hide the smuggled goods.
Since October 13th, 2023, the FBI started getting multiple anonymous tips about Operation Smuggle Art. The tips are thought to have been sent from someone on the inside of CrimeBossforLif3’s inner circle.
On April 1st, 2024, an FBI unit stormed the building and found $1.5 billion worth of artwork along with CrimeBossforLif3, a few of the OSA students who were in her inner circle, and a priceless art collector, hiding in the basement of Sweet’s Ballroom (the part that is blocked off to students).
One of the FBI operatives who was there that day allegedly reported that CrimeBossforLif3 had been in the middle of an art deal and had been holding the real Mona Lisa which she was about to sell to a buyer, when she was found in the basement.
All of the stolen artifacts and artwork are in the process of being returned and the Mona Lisa is back in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
CrimeBossforLif3 allegedly threatened whoever left the anonymous tip before she was put into custody. “I will find whoever did this. Whoever that dirty little snitch was, will pay in blood, sweat, and art.”
Using Oakland School for the Arts’ main building, located on 530 18th St and which actually wraps around the iconic Fox Theater, to store most of the stolen artwork and artifacts, CrimeBossforLif3 had OSA students working as her henchmen. The investigation as to who these students were is currently ongoing. At the moment, none of the students’ identities have been released. While CrimeBossforLif3 would steal artwork, the students would smuggle and hide the artwork in and out of OSA’s main building, often using their art classrooms to hide the smuggled goods.
Since October 13th, 2023, the FBI started getting multiple anonymous tips about Operation Smuggle Art. The tips are thought to have been sent from someone on the inside of CrimeBossforLif3’s inner circle.
On April 1st, 2024, an FBI unit stormed the building and found $1.5 billion worth of artwork along with CrimeBossforLif3, a few of the OSA students who were in her inner circle, and a priceless art collector, hiding in the basement of Sweet’s Ballroom (the part that is blocked off to students).
One of the FBI operatives who was there that day allegedly reported that CrimeBossforLif3 had been in the middle of an art deal and had been holding the real Mona Lisa which she was about to sell to a buyer, when she was found in the basement.
All of the stolen artifacts and artwork are in the process of being returned and the Mona Lisa is back in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
CrimeBossforLif3 allegedly threatened whoever left the anonymous tip before she was put into custody. “I will find whoever did this. Whoever that dirty little snitch was, will pay in blood, sweat, and art.”
