Miami Customs Cops Return Stolen Artifacts to Peru

EBay? Better check Cash4Gold.com while you're at it, guys.

Several priceless cultural treasures were returned to the goverment of Peru after a Miami detour that would have seen them sold and possibly lost for good.

Two small wooden statutes, a metal statue, two pendants, a crucifix, a painting and a church vestment were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators in Miami after officials in South America tipped them off to the alleged illegal sale of Peruvian cultural property on eBay.

When first contacted in October of 2007, investigators followed the trail to a man in Miami who was at that moment auctioning off a Peruvian trunk with real gold and silver church vestments. The trunk was seized, and while authorities awaited authentication they ran into the same man getting off a flight from Peru at Miami International in November 2008. Customs and Border protection searched his luggage, and found the now-returned treasures stashed away in his belongings.

An inspection revealed them to be authentic.

"The artifacts are priceless to Peru's cultural history and the seizure and return for repatriation is significant in that it highlights the cooperation and efforts taken by our agencies and governments to protect human history for future generations," said ICE's Director of Field Operations in Miami Harold Woodward.

The artifacts also suggest Peru might have a vampire problem, but the as-yet-unnamed local culprit might have bigger issues: importing stolen goods is kind of a big deal.

ICE did not say if the man has been criminally charged, but Peru's patrimony laws prohibit the export and transfer of ownership of cultural property without the written permission of Institute of National Culture. If an object is exported without approval, it is considered stolen from Peru under the country's cultural patrimony laws.

"No one should profit from smuggled antiquities," said Anthony Mangione, Miami ICE's special agent in charge. Especially, that is, if the smuggled antiquities hate America -- ICE happens to be the largest investigative agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

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