Posted on 11/19/2005 1:00:38 AM PST by nickcarraway
CAIRO -- Egypt is to recover from the United States, Canada and Germany more than 100 stolen antiquities that had been smuggled out by a massive trafficking ring, the official Mena news agency reported on Thursday.
Some of the antiquities were located after Egypt's largest-ever trafficking trial in August, which led to heavy prison sentences for seven people, antiquities chief Zahi Hawwas told the agency.
He said that members of his Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) had found some of the missing pieces on the Websites of several auctioneers across the world.
Hawwas explained that the pieces to be recovered from Germany has been seized by police as they were being sold to a buyer in the United States.
Some stolen Pharaonic antiquities were intercepted upon arrival in the United States at a San Francisco airport, while others were seized from an auction room in Canada, he added.
Hawwas did not elaborate on the nature of the stolen pieces nor did he specify when they would be returned.
He explained that the pieces to be recovered were smuggled out through a major trafficking operation masterminded by two Egyptian antiquities dealers.
Mohammed Al Shaer was sentenced to 55 years in jail for trafficking antiquities, corruption and encouraging SCA officials to forge documents.
A relative, Farouk Al Shaer, was sentenced to 42 years for illegal possession and trafficking of antiquities.
ping
Note to self - next time I'm in possession of stolen antiquities, don't post them on Ebay.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
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bump for later read about stolen antiquities
Not a good idea to announce to the world that you're selling stolen Egyptian antiquities.
Very stiff sentences.
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