The United States has returned dozens of archaeological artifacts to Egypt after they were recovered from a suspected trafficker, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.
The items, handed over to Egyptian officials during a ceremony in Los Angeles on Friday, include jewellery, statues, sculptures and other cultural objects dating to Egypt’s Pharaonic, Roman and Coptic periods.
According to the FBI, the artifacts were recovered from a smuggler who has since died. However, investigators said the case remains open as they work to identify possible accomplices and determine whether additional looted objects are still in circulation.
“This is an ongoing investigation, so we’re not going to go into a lot of the details primarily. Despite knowing that the suspected trafficker is now deceased, we are seeking to identify further co-conspirators,” Allen Grove, a special agent with the FBI Art Crime Team 18, said.
“We have reason to believe there may be more items out there,” he added.
The FBI said US law enforcement agencies have returned more than 5,000 archaeological and cultural artifacts to Egypt over the past decade.
Receiving the artifacts on behalf of Egypt, Hossam Eldeen Aly, the Egyptian Consul General in Los Angeles, described the repatriation as an important step in preserving the country’s cultural heritage.
“These artifacts are an integral part of our people’s identity, of their cultural heritage, their history, and it’s truly a great honor to see that our partnership with the US allows us to bring them home and to bring them where they belong,” Aly said.
The latest return is part of longstanding cooperation between the United States and Egypt aimed at combating the illegal trafficking of cultural property.
In 2016, both countries signed a cultural property agreement that allows the United States to impose restrictions on the importation of certain categories of archaeological and ethnological materials from Egypt.
