Feds seize smuggled ancient Egyptian artifacts worth millions, destined for US collectors Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY October 20, 2025 at 9:04 PM 4 Federal authorities have recovered more than a dozen ancient Egyptian artifacts illegally smuggled into the United States and destined for private collector...
- - Feds seize smuggled ancient Egyptian artifacts worth millions, destined for US collectors
Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY October 20, 2025 at 9:04 PM
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Federal authorities have recovered more than a dozen ancient Egyptian artifacts illegally smuggled into the United States and destined for private collectors, including a funerary statue valued at about $6 million.
The artifacts included a vase, amulets and stone figurines deceptively or inaccurately labeled on shipping paperwork as "home décor," "stone garden statue," or other terms that "did not state the true origin or value of the ancient artifacts," the Department of Justice said.
"The deceptive practices used to smuggle these treasures into the United States not only violate our import laws but also undermine efforts to preserve and protect the integrity of cultural history," said Evan Campanella, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore.
In all, the government completed the forfeiture of 14 items by default judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the DOJ said, continuing efforts to identify and dismantle illicit networks exploiting global trade routes.
Authorities said the $6 million funerary statue, described as "Old Kingdom Limestone," likely came from an archaeological site in either Saqqara or Giza. Both sites feature royal cemetery grounds and are located near the ancient city of Memphis in present-day Egypt.
The seizures took place between August 2020 and April 2021 at U.S. airports in New York City, Cincinnati and Anchorage, Alaska. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the artifacts while inspecting parcels en route from overseas shippers to private collectors, including a person in Edgewater, Maryland.
With the aid of historians and antique appraisers, CBP officers were able to determine "the true nature" of the artifacts, the DOJ said.
The artifacts were seized through civil forfeiture, a sometimes controversial practice that dates back to the age of privateers and that has since been used to go after moonshiners, mafia dons and drug kingpins.
"This litigation highlights one of the benefits of civil asset forfeiture and is an important milestone toward eliminating smuggled cultural property from the U.S. art market," said Kelly Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.
An artifact retrieved by Egyptian divers lays at Abu Qir Naval Port anticipating a visit by Sherif Fathy, Egypt's minister of tourism and antiquities, and Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Mohamed Ismail Khaled in the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt, on August 21, 2025. \
It's unclear whether anyone has been charged in connection with the seizures or if charges are forthcoming. The U.S. attorney's office in Maryland said it could not respond to a request for more information, citing the ongoing federal shutdown.
In a separate case involving Egyptian relics, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt was sentenced in August to six months in federal prison for smuggling hundreds of ancient artifacts swiped from Egyptian tombs. The chicanery unraveled in February 2020 when Ashraf Omar Eldarir, 52, was caught at New York's JFK Airport with nearly 600 bubble-wrapped artifacts in his suitcases, some so freshly purloined that they carried the whiff of soil.
In such cases, the DOJ said it has pursued appropriate channels to return items to their country of origin.
"These ancient artifacts are more than just relics of the past," Campanella said. "They are irreplaceable pieces of global cultural heritage that tell the story of human civilization."
Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore's cultural property, art and antiquities unit investigated the case.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Feds seize smuggled ancient Egyptian artifacts worth millions
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