Cairo,Egypt — Egyptian police arrested Thursday a former lawmaker and others on charges of illegal excavation and smuggling of 201 Pharaonic, Greek and Roman artifacts, an interior ministry statement said.
Security agencies “arrested a criminal gang headed by a person, who was previously charged in four cases, for illegally excavating sites nationwide… with the aim of smuggling and selling antiquities,” it said.
A 5-minute video accompanying the statement listed the looted relics found in the men’s possession including “two wooden tablets engraved with hieroglyphics, 36 different statues of various lengths… 52 copper coins believed to be from the Greek and Roman periods… th…
Keep on reading: Egypt arrests former lawmaker for smuggling antiquities