The FBI returned dozens of looted cultural
artifacts including ancient ornaments and carvings to representatives of the
Egyptian government at a ceremony today in Los Angeles.
The repatriated property includes carved figures, amulets and tomb
equipment, among other items, from the Pharaonic, Roman, and Coptic periods,
according to the FBI.
With the assistance of the U.S. Department of State and antiquities
experts, along with the FBI’s legal attaché in Cairo, it was confirmed that all
48 objects originated from Egypt and should rightfully be returned to the
people of Egypt, said Patrick Grandy, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s
Los Angeles bureau.
The suspected trafficker is now dead, Grandy said, adding that the
case remains open while authorities work to identify potential co-conspirators
and locate other artifacts that may have been illegally obtained.
“These handed-over artifacts represent an integral part of the
history and cultural heritage of Egypt and its people, and we are very glad and
honored to bring those home,” Dr. Hossam Aly, Egypt’s consul general in Los
Angeles, said in a statement. “Egypt looks forward to more constructive and
solid bilateral cooperation in the cultural field and beyond.”
The illicit trafficking of cultural property is a source of funding
for transnational criminal and terrorist organizations and undermines the
integrity of the art and antiquities market in the United States, according to
the FBI.
In 2016, the United States and Egypt entered into a cultural property
agreement that enables the imposition of U.S. import restrictions on certain
categories of archeological and ethnological material from Egypt. The agreement
creates a framework to identify, interdict and return trafficked cultural
property, while encouraging legal exchange for cultural, educational and
scientific purposes, officials said.
According to the FBI, U.S. law enforcement has returned more than
5,000 cultural artifacts to Egypt over the past 10 years.
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