The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE – HSI), in cooperation with its partners, repatriated 26 ancient artifacts seized by U.S. law enforcement authorities to Greece.
According to the US agency’s statement, the objects were recovered as part of investigations conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in cooperation with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the FBI and the State Department.
“ICE HSI is extremely proud to have leveraged its investigative expertise and customs authority, in collaboration with our partners, leading to the repatriation of these 26 priceless antiquities that were illegally looted from their homeland,” said ICE Deputy Director Charles Wall.
“These precious artifacts were an important part of life in the ancient world. I am especially grateful to the investigative and prosecutorial team responsible for the recovery and return of these priceless treasures.”
The items include 25 ancient coins, dating from the ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods, as well as a 500-pound marble torso of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing.
The return of these stolen objects continues a long tradition of commitment to the protection of Greek cultural heritage. Since 2007, HSI has repatriated more than 200 cultural heritage objects to Greece, many of which were seized under the bilateral cultural property agreement between the United States and Greece, which was implemented in 2011.
The items returned include the following:
– The marble torso of Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine and healing, dating from the 1st or 2nd century and standing 40 inches tall. The statue was seized by law enforcement authorities after claims contained in the accompanying documents were found to be false, following an investigation by HSI and CBP.
– A gold coin from Lampsacus in Myosia, minted in 370 BC, depicting Hercules on the obverse and Pegasus on the reverse. The gold coin was excavated by an unknown archaeophile and then sold to an intermediary, who resold it to the head of a criminal organisation for 7,000 euros. It was illegally exported from Greece to Germany, where it could not be sold at an auction house before being sent to an auction house in the United States in Philadelphia.
– A Macedonian bronze coin, 4th century BC, depicting Persephone on the obverse and Hydra on the reverse. Greek police found that the coin had been excavated and illegally exported from the country by the same criminal organization that looted the gold coin of Lampsacus. After being illegally removed from Greece, the coin was sold at auction in 2009 and was offered for sale again in 2017 before appearing at the same U.S. auction house as the gold coin.
– A silver twodrachm of Rhodes, struck in 304 BC, depicting the Sun on the obverse and “Rhodes of Rhodes” on the reverse. HSI in Memphis seized the coin after finding violations of the Law on the Implementation of the Convention on Cultural Property, as well as violations related to smuggling and importation. The importer or consignor did not provide satisfactory evidence that the currency had been exported from Greece before the import restrictions were imposed.
The protection and preservation of the world’s cultural heritage and knowledge of past cultures is one of the key objectives of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program, known as the Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program (CPAA). CPAA conducts training and outreach, supports investigations of cultural property cases, and enhances international relations by working with foreign governments and citizens to return their countries’ looted cultural heritage and stolen artwork.
Since 2007, the CPAA program has partnered with the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center and the Smithsonian Institution to train Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) special agents, FBI agents, customs agents, and prosecutors in modern techniques, as well as to educate them on trends in criminal investigations and the proper handling of cultural property. Since then, CPAA has repatriated more than 25,000 artifacts to more than 40 countries worldwide.
