Historic Treasure Recovered: US Government Seizes 14 Smuggled Egyptian Artifacts, Including a $6 Million Statue

The US government announced a significant achievement in combating cultural heritage trafficking on Monday, confirming the seizure of 14 ancient Egyptian artifacts that had been illegally smuggled into the United States. A federal court in Maryland issued a final forfeiture order for the pieces, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

The confiscated artifacts include a remarkable item: a limestone funerary statue dating back to the Old Kingdom, valued at approximately $6 million USD, as stated in the press release from the US Attorney's Office in Baltimore. The collection also comprised various amulets, stone figures, and an antique vase.

The Seizure Operation and Misleading Descriptions:

The artifacts were intercepted between August 2020 and April 2021 by officers from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The seizures occurred during the inspection of parcels sent from abroad via major airports in Anchorage, Alaska; Cincinnati, Ohio; and New York.

Authorities revealed that the shipments were destined for private collectors in the US, with one shipment specifically headed to a collector in the Edgewater area of Maryland. To conceal their true identity and value, the shipping documents contained misleading and inaccurate descriptions of the contents, such as "home décor," "stone garden statue," or "ornament." The items' true origin and actual value were omitted.

Preserving Global Cultural Heritage:

The statement confirmed that the real identity of the Egyptian artifacts was verified in collaboration with historians and experts in ancient artifacts. The US Department of Justice emphasized its consistent policy in similar trafficking cases to return the smuggled artifacts to their rightful owners—the people of the nations from which they were illegally removed.

Eivan Campanella, Acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Baltimore, stressed the cultural significance of these seizures: "These artifacts are not mere relics of the past; they are irreplaceable parts of the world's cultural heritage that tell the story of human civilization." He added that deceptive practices used to smuggle these treasures into the US not only violate import laws but also undermine efforts to preserve and protect cultural history.