GELA, Italy, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Italian police said they uncovered a smuggling ring that dug up archaeological treasures in Sicily and sold them to U.S. and European collectors.
Police arrested at least 35 people in eight Italian regions Wednesday, ANSA said. Another 42 people were being investigated on suspicion of smuggling or receiving the goods -- including coins, statues and vases -- some of which dated to pre-Roman times.
The artifacts were unearthed by teams of tomb-raiders in Sicily who worked with a middle man in Gela, Italy, to pass them on to receivers with contacts in Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Spain and the United States, investigators said. Some of the stolen items were acquired by an auction house in Munich, Germany, a gallery in London and an antiques dealer in Spain.
Police said they recovered about 2,000 items dating back to Greek, Punic, Roman and Byzantine periods.
"This trafficking damages our artistic heritage because we lose artifacts which have considerable value, economic as well as historical," Gela prosecutor Alessandro Sutera Sardo said. "These artifacts are difficult to protect because there are so many archaeological sites and we are just not able to watch over all of them. This means they get sacked."
