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Success stories 
June 2003 United States Customs officials returned 26 pieces of pre-Columbian pottery and stone carvings to the Guatemalan government. The artifacts were seized in Miami from a New York couple, Patrick McSween and Judith Ganeles, on their way to New York from Guatemala in 1998. Created anywhere from 250 A.D. to 1200 A.D. as burial offerings to the afterlife, these antiquities were mixed with knock-offs. After the collection was seized in 1998, the items were shipped to New York as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. The pottery was stored in a vault at the World Trade Center which was destroyed in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. But as workers cleared the rubble, they discovered the artifacts unharmed. The documents needed for the criminal case, however, were lost. Still, U.S. officials pressed forward with the civil case and in January 2003 forced the couple to forfeit the ancient pieces. In exchange, the couple agreed to withdraw all their claims and admitted no wrongdoing. Sun Sentinel, June 17, 2004
Spanish police recover Ancient Mayan, Aztec Arts stolen from Nicaragua. The 228 pieces include necklaces, chalices and musical instruments. They are more than 2,000 years old and worth about $1,700,000. Baku Today, June 16, 2004
Four men were arrested in a sting operation early last week, Four men were arrested in a sting operation early last week, and hundreds of items ranging from statuettes to bowls to tablets with cuneiform writing were recovered, Gen. Muhssin Ali, a senior official in Iraq's Interior Ministry, said Sunday. USA Today, June 13, 2003
Warka Vase Returned Among the most important artifacts originally missing from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad in April, 2003 was the Warka Vase, a 5,000-year-old carved white limestone piece was returned on June 12, 2003.
Four Men Arrested in Baghdad Iraqi police arrested four men in Baghdad, part of a larger smuggling ring, and recovered 3000 objects (approximately 1000 cuneiform tablets) that had been looted from archaeological sites in Iraq. The objects had been wrapped up and boxed for shipment outside of the country. This is the first major arrest and recovery of objects looted from archaeological sites by Iraqi police since the 2003 war. Four Corners Media, June 9, 2004
Treasures of Nimrud were found On June 5, 2003, the Treasures of Nimrud were found safely stored in a bank vault, submerged in sewage water. The 613 pieces of gold jewelry, precious stone and ornaments"earlier feared to have been looted" had been put away since the first Gulf War. Dating back to 99 B.C., they have never been shown outside of Iraq.
Six hundred stolen 4,000-year-old artifacts were found Six hundred stolen 4,000-year-old artifacts were found by Hebron District Police in the apartment of a Palestinian man in a raid on June 1. Following intelligence received, police, along with Civil Administration representatives and officials from the Antiquities Authority, raided the man's house in the village of Bani Naim and found items including coins, pottery, jewelry, maps and more. The man who was detained said the items were found by his children and that he had no connection to them. The Jerusalem Post, June 1, 2004 We thank the Museum Security Network Mailinglist and Cultural Property Protection Net Mailinglist for their work. |
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The Warka Vase portrayed in Eva Strommenger's 1962 book Jahrtausende Mesopotamien and after its recovery on 6/12/03 (via McGuire Gibson; source withheld upon request) Photos: © 2003 John Malcolm Russell |
