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You know, the illicit antiquities trade is flourishing these days. Criminals are stealing artifacts right from the ground and selling them for money or producing fakes and passing them on to unsuspecting customers. But those who support archaeology and the preservation of artifacts will be happy to know that many of the criminals involved in these activities are getting caught and paying the price. So strap in as I count down the 10 best antiquities busts of the last year.
Number 10, the Egyptian suitcase smuggler. This past August in federal court in Brooklyn, Ashraf Omar Eldarir was sentenced by the US District Judge to six months in prison for smuggling Egyptian antiquities into the United States through JFK Airport. Eldarir had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of smuggling. The key incident occurred on January 22nd, 2020 when Eldarir arrived at JFK from Egypt. He falsely declared to CBP that he was carrying goods valued at only $300. According to a court filing when Eldarir was asked about the stone, wood, and ceramic pieces, he said they were items to decorate his two-bedroom apartment. When officers opened his three checked suitcases, they found them filled with 590 valuable artifacts wrapped in bubble wrap and foam. When the wrapping was opened, loose sand and dirt spilled out which prosecutors said indicated that the artifacts had been recently excavated. The items included a complete gold funerary amulet, two Roman funerary stelae, a relief with a Ptolemaic era cartouche, a pair of Osiris headpieces, a Greco-Roman terracotta headless torso, and wooden tomb model figures with linen garments dating to approximately 1900 BCE. The DOJ said he was a prolific trafficker of ancient Egyptian artifacts who smuggled objects into the US on at least four occasions between April 2019 and January 2020. Then he used fake provenance documents to sell them through US-based auction houses. Provenance documents are supposed to reflect an artifact's ownership history, which helps to establish authenticity and show that an object was not illegally excavated or stolen. Eldarir possessed a kit of materials used to fabricate the documentation. Many objects had paperwork claiming they came from the same pre-1948 family collection of Egyptian antiquities. Being pre-1948 is important because it places the artifacts outside modern Egyptian export restrictions by making them appear to have left Egypt a long time ago. Federal prosecutors said they looked forward to repatriating the recovered antiquities to Egypt.
Number nine, Bronze Age Swords Shipping Scheme. In October 2025, US Customs and Border Protection officers in Philadelphia were doing routine inspection of cargo shipments at the Port of Philadelphia when they came across a shipment arriving from the United Arab Emirates and headed for Jacksonville, Florida. The cargo was labeled metal decoration articles. When officers x-rayed it, they detected sword-like objects inside. When they opened it, they found 36 short swords and 50 arrowheads all made of some kind of copper alloy. An archaeologist specializing in Near Eastern antiquities at a nearby university was brought in to identify the objects. The archaeologist's name and affiliation was withheld from the press and it was determined that the artifacts were from the region along the southwestern Caspian Sea near the Talish Mountains region of Iran and between 3,000 and 3,600 years old. On February 18th, 2026, the CBP formally seized the items. These Bronze Age weapons, likely stolen from a burial site in Iran, would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market. The US does not have a formal agreement with Iran about returning smuggled cultural heritage. So, the CBP will hold on to them until a determination can be made about their disposition. CBP said that charges in the US are not being pursued.
Number eight, East Jerusalem coin raid. In late January 2026, the robbery prevention unit of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, with the help of police, seized approximately 450 ancient and counterfeit coins during a raid on the home of an East Jerusalem resident suspected of smuggling and illegally selling antiquities. The coins were reportedly hidden in a flower pot on the suspect's balcony. The collection included coins from the Hasmonean, Herodian, and Roman periods, as well as modern counterfeits. Several of the pieces had already been set into pendants, earrings, or other jewelry. These kinds of modifications permanently damage artifacts and separate them from their archaeological context. One pendant contained what appeared to be a counterfeit coin from the first year of the Bar Kokhba rebellion. Illicit trade creates incentives for fakes. Such a coin, if thought to be real, would fetch a large sum. Inspectors found ancient coins in another part of the residence that were already packaged and suspected to be intended for shipment abroad to a buyer. They also found professional photography equipment and coin cleaning equipment in the home. I know many of you are thinking that Israel has no right to talk about protecting antiquities when it has destroyed or damaged well over 150 archaeological sites in Gaza during the war. And that's a good point. But the IAA itself, although a government agency, an independent one, is comprised largely of archaeologists and has not sanctioned this destruction. In fact, they've been trying to save artifacts in Gaza. Though they initially came under some criticism for attempting to take control of heritage that does not belong to them in their efforts to save it. More recently, they've been aiding in the protection of archaeological sites without taking anything out of Gaza. Whatever the case, what this man did would be considered a crime in any country.
Number seven, a house full of pharaonic treasures. On January 17th, 2026, Egyptian authorities announced that security forces arrested a man in Minya Governorate after finding 526 authentic pharaonic era artifacts in his possession. When confronted, the suspect reportedly admitted that the seized artifacts were the result of illegal digging and excavation for antiquities in a mountainous area. He also reportedly admitted he possessed the pieces with the intention of selling them. The items were said to have been kept in the suspect's home, which authorities described as the base or stage from which he carried out the alleged trafficking activity. The seized objects were shown to antiquities inspectors who determined that all of the seized items were genuine antiquities and that they dated to ancient times. Minya is especially relevant because Middle Egypt is rich in pharaonic archaeological material. Under Egyptian law, anyone convicted of illicit excavation, concealment, or smuggling of antiquities can face aggravated imprisonment, possible fines, and confiscation of the artifacts as well as equipment, tools, and vehicles used in the illegal activity.
Number six, golden helmet and bracelets recovered from Dutch museum heist. In April 2026, a priceless 2,500-year-old golden helmet from Romania, stolen from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands, was recovered by Dutch authorities along with two of three stolen gold bracelets. The helmet of Cotofenești is a celebrated ancient gold helmet from the 5th century BCE from the ancient Getai culture, and the bracelets are from ancient Dacia. The recovery came more than a year after thieves broke into the Drents Museum in Assen during dramatic early morning heist on January 25th, 2025. The thieves used a homemade firework bomb to blast their way into the museum and a sledgehammer. Dutch authorities arrested three suspects shortly after the theft, but the artifacts were nowhere to be found at that time. And there was a fear the objects would be melted down because they were too famous and distinctive to sell openly. To make matters worse, the helmet and bracelets were on loan from Romania's National History Museum in Bucharest. As you might imagine, the theft caused significant diplomatic tension between Romania and the Netherlands. But the artifacts were retrieved as part of a deal with the three suspects for lighter sentences. The helmet was reported to be slightly dented, but mostly intact and restorable. The two recovered bracelets were described as undamaged or intact. The third bracelet remained missing at the time of the announcement. The surviving items were returned to Romania.
Number five, Egyptian Museum thief caught. This story has a sadder ending. In September 2025, Egyptian authorities revealed that a bracelet belonging to Pharaoh Amenemope had been stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Amenemope is associated with the royal burials at Tanis, where his tomb was discovered intact alongside those of Psusennes I and Shoshenq II by Pierre Montet in 1939 and 1940. The bracelet was about 3,000 years old and dated to Egypt's 21st Dynasty, around the 10th century BCE. It was gold and decorated with spherical lapis lazuli beads. Yes, I'm saying was. Authorities said the theft occurred on September 9th when it had been taken from a safe or secure storage area while museum staff were preparing artifacts for an overseas exhibition in Rome. The thief was a museum restoration specialist. After the bracelet was found missing, Egyptian authorities initially kept the theft confidential so the investigation would not be compromised. Images of the bracelet were circulated to authorities at Egyptian ports, airports, and border crossings to prevent the object from being smuggled out of the country. Here's what they found out. The thief allegedly took the bracelet from the museum. She gave it or sold it to an acquaintance who owned a silver shop or worked as a silver trader. That person sold it to a gold jeweler for about $3,735. The gold jeweler sold it to a gold foundry worker for about $4,025. Then the foundry worker melted it down. Yes, you heard me right, to make jewelry or gold pieces. Egyptian authorities arrested the museum restoration specialist, the silver trader, the gold jeweler, and the gold foundry worker. All four individuals confessed to their roles after arrest. Proceeds from the sale have been recovered, but sadly not the bracelet. The case triggered widespread anger in Egypt. How could a 3,000-year-old pharaonic bracelet simply be taken from the Egyptian museum and destroyed? Social media users were especially furious that the bracelet's historical value seemed to have been ignored by those who handled it after the theft. Many were left lamenting that an artifact which survived for more than 3,000 years was now gone forever. Melted down for a few thousand dollars worth of gold.
Number four, Manhattan DA recovers antiquities of India and Italy. New York City is a large market in which rare artifacts circulate among US auction houses, private collectors, and museums. An illegal exchange of antiquities occurs there all the time. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office says that its antiquities trafficking unit has recovered over the years more than 6,200 cultural treasures valued at more than 485 million dollars. And it has returned more than 5,900 of those objects to 36 countries. I want to tell you about two important recoveries from the past year. On April 28th, 2026, the Manhattan DA's office announced the return of 657 antiquities to India, which were recovered through several ongoing investigations conducted by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit led by Matthew Bogdanos, along with Homeland Security Investigation special agents. They described the scale of the trafficking networks that targeted India's heritage as massive, saying the return of more than 600 pieces demonstrated how large the problem was. The objects were collectively valued at nearly $14 million. One featured object was a bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara. This bronze was a part of a large hoard discovered near the Lakshmana Temple in 1939 and had entered the collection of the Mahant Ghasi Das Memorial Museum in Raipur by 1952. It was later stolen from the museum, smuggled into the United States by 1982, and had ended up in a private New York collection by 2014. The office says it located and seized the $2 million bronze. Yeah, $2 million from that collection in 2025. Another major object was a red sandstone figure of a standing Buddha. The Buddha's feet are broken below the knees and only fragments of the halo behind the head remain. The damage likely occurred when the statue was looted from northern India. The DA's office valued the Buddha at $7.5 million. It says the statue was smuggled into New York by antiquities trafficker Subhash Kapoor. The antiquities trafficking unit and Homeland Security have investigated Kapoor and his co-conspirators for more than a decade for the alleged illegal looting, exportation, and sale of artifacts from countries in South and Southeast Asia. The DA obtained an arrest warrant for Kapoor in 2012. In November 2019, Kapoor and seven co-defendants were indicted for conspiracy to traffic stolen antiquities. Kapoor was convicted in India in 2022 and his extradition from India remains pending. Five of Kapoor's co-defendants have been convicted, too. The third highlighted object was a sandstone figure of a dancing Ganesha. It was looted by one of Kapoor's indicted co-conspirators from a temple in Madhya Pradesh in 2000. The object was then sold and shipped by convicted trafficker Vaman Ghiya to New York gallery owner Doris Weiner. After Doris Weiner's death, her daughter Nancy Weiner knowingly created false provenance for the Ganesha, consigned it to Christie's New York, and sold it there in 2012. The private collector who bought it at the auction surrendered it to the DA's office earlier in 2026. On April 29th, 2026, Italian authorities unveiled 337 cultural objects returned from the United States at the Caserma La Marmora in Rome, headquarters of the Carabinieri's operational department for the protection of cultural heritage. This is one of the largest recent returns of stolen cultural property to Italy. The materials included ancient Roman sculptures, Greek, Etruscan, and Egyptian pieces with artifacts spanning roughly from the 5th century BCE to the 3rd century CE. Italian authorities said they came from clandestine excavations or were stolen from cultural institutions before entering the international art market. Of the 337 returned objects, 221 were recovered through collaboration with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The remaining 116 objects were returned through coordinated work involving the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Manhattan DA's Office. In one case, the return also involved input from the New York auction house Christie's. One of the most important recovered pieces was a marble head of Alexander the Great dated to the 1st century CE from the Basilica Aemilia in the Roman Forum. The returned group also included two Egyptian basalt statues. The recovered objects will be studied and, where possible, returned to their places of origin across Italy.
Number three, Bulgarian antiquities trafficking network dismantled. Authorities arrested 35 suspects in Bulgaria as part of a major investigation into a criminal group accused of stealing and trafficking thousands of artifacts. The group is accused of stealing artifacts across Europe, including from museums, and trafficking them from Bulgaria into other European countries. The action was coordinated through Eurojust and supported by Europol. The investigation began after a house raid in Bulgaria in 2020, when authorities seized about 7,000 cultural artifacts. Eurojust says these artifacts included masks, military equipment, jewelry, vases, and cups from the Thracian and Greco-Roman civilizations, with some items dating as far back as 2000 BCE. Because many of the artifacts lacked documentation, authorities suspected they had been acquired illegally, and that prompted the larger investigation. The operation targeted a network that had been operating for more than 16 years across Western Europe, the Balkans, the United States, and elsewhere. According to the Bulgarian prosecutor, investigators had already identified more than $1 billion connected to the money laundering side of the case. A total of 35 people were detained or arrested in Bulgaria. About 20 people are expected to face charges connected with antiquities trafficking and money laundering. Eurojust says one of those arrested was a high-value target suspected of leading the trafficking operation. This alleged ringleader is accused of financing illegal excavations across Bulgaria and neighboring countries while local looters allegedly worked on his behalf. Authorities seized more than 3,000 more artifacts during the November 2025 operation. These included antique gold and silver coins, artworks, and other antiquities. Eurojust estimates the recovered items from the operation at over 100 million euros. Authorities also seized over 50,000 euros in cash. The suspected trafficking model, as described by Eurojust, appeared to have worked like this. The ringleader financed illegal excavations in Bulgaria and neighboring Balkan countries. Local looters would carry out the digging. The artifacts were then moved into the international art market using questionable documentation.
Number two, mafia operation in Sicily and Calabria busted. On December 12th, 2025, Italy's Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage announced a major operation called Genos Schiletium, which similarly targeted networks involved in illegal excavation, theft, and receiving stolen cultural goods, and trafficking, illicit export, money laundering, and counterfeiting of archaeological material. The operation combined two investigations. Genos was the Sicilian investigation conducted by the Palermo unit under the Catania Prosecutor's Office. Schiletium was the Calabrian investigation conducted by the Cosenza unit under the Catanzaro Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office. The Genos investigation began in 2021 after the leadership of the Archaeological Park of Agrigento filed a complaint about repeated clandestine excavations carried out at the archaeological site of Heraclea Minoa. The Schiletium investigation focused on illegal excavations and trafficking of artifacts from several important Calabrian archaeological areas. The two investigations converged when a Sicilian team of Tumbaroli, tomb robbers, that appeared in the Genos investigation was found to be operating both in Sicily and collaboration with suspects in the Calabrian investigation. The Genos investigation led to the seizure of about 10,000 archaeological artifacts, including about 7,000 ancient coins. The chronology of the coins stretched from the mid-5th century BCE to the later Hellenistic period. The total estimated value of the seized artifacts was 17 million euros. During searches in the Catania area, authorities discovered a clandestine workshop used to produce fake archaeological artifacts. The Carabinieri described the Sicilian criminal organization using the term archaeomafia. They described an illicit chain beginning with specialized tombaroli who used tools to analyze terrain and dig, inevitably damaging the morphology of archaeological sites. The chain then moved upward to local receivers of stolen artifacts and ultimately to dominant figures in the international illicit trade. The official release says these criminal groups operated mainly in the Etna area and extended their branches into Germany and the United Kingdom. For the Ghenos operation, the authorities made nine prison arrests, 14 house arrests, 17 residence obligations including eight with an obligation to remain at home at night, four obligations to report to judicial police, and one suspension of business activity against the owner of an auction house. The Collabria investigation is especially notable because prosecutors alleged a connection with organized crime. The alleged crimes were committed partly to facilitate the Arena 'Ndrangheta mafia clan. For the Shilecium operation, the authorities took two people into prison custody and put nine under house arrest.
And number one, Greece dismantles two international criminal organizations. On June 24th, 2025, the Hellenic police announced that officers from the Patras crime investigation and prosecution sub-directorate had dismantled two international criminal organizations involved in archaeophilia antiquities trafficking. The arrest took place the previous day in a transnational police operation involving locations across Greece and Munich, Germany. Police said 32 were arrested in Greece while four more identified members were being sought in Germany and Greece. Police said this group had operated nationally from 2022 and committed at least 130 criminal acts against Greece's cultural heritage. At the lowest level were people who worked alone or in small groups using subsurface detection equipment, metal detectors, and digging tools to conduct illegal excavations and searches. Their goal was to uncover and steal archaeological finds. Police said they mainly removed metal ancient objects, especially ancient coins. At the next level were intermediaries who were shown the illegally found objects either in person or in photographs. They made preliminary estimates of value and were then tasked with contacting potential buyers. At the top level were people who purchased the antiquities, gathered them, exported them from Greece, and delivered them either to foreign auction houses or to collaborators abroad for sale. Police said these higher-level members had acquired specialized archaeological knowledge, including knowledge of dating, iconographic types, and market values based on comparable objects previously sold. The second criminal organization allegedly had 10 members. Police said seven were arrested in Greece, while three more identified members were being sought. This group allegedly operated from December 2023 in parts of Macedonia and Thrace. All the antiquities were allegedly gathered by the group's leader and then sent abroad, where investigators found involvement by two auction houses. Investigators said this second group committed at least 49 criminal acts against Greece's cultural heritage. The case file included an antiquities guard employed by an Ephorate of Antiquities who was allegedly willing to negotiate the sale of an antiquity he had illegally removed, and a correctional officer who allegedly mediated in a proposed sale of an ancient object, though no agreement was reached. All 39 suspects had been conditionally released after testifying before an investigative magistrate in Thessaloniki. The two alleged leaders, aged 66 and 43, were each given 50,000 euros bail, banned from leaving the country, and required to appear at their local police precinct.
So, what can ordinary people do to cut down on illegal activity like this? Remember that there would be no black market if there was no demand for the products. The reason why people commit crimes like this is because there are buyers. If you want to support the ancient past, visit museums, support legitimate archaeology, buy replicas, books, and museum shop pieces. But, be very cautious about buying real antiquities online. Every suspicious purchase rewards the people who dig holes in ancient sites, and forge documents, and smuggle objects across borders, and turn history into merchandise. Looting does not just remove objects, it destroys information. Ancient artifacts are evidence of history, and that evidence loses its voice when it's ripped out of the ground and sold to the highest bidder. And buying counterfeit items encourages the creation of more fakes, which can cause a lot of confusion. The highest risk venues are online marketplaces, tourist markets near archaeological sites, low-end auction platforms, unvetted private dealers, and estate sales and flea markets. I hope you enjoyed the video. If you did, please consider a super thanks, and stay tuned for the next one. You might like my little e-booklet, Why Ancient History Matters. It's designed to persuade people that the subject is important even in the modern world. You might also wish to use it to help spread the word. So, feel free to share it with someone you know. It's free for anyone who wants it. I've left a link in the description box below the video for you to grab a copy. Catch you later.