Six people have been arrested on the Greek island of Crete as police “dismantled” an antiquities trafficking ring. Aretefacts worth around €1 million were seized, Greek police said on Wednesday.
The ring leaders were arrested while three other suspects remain at large, the police said in a statement. The group is charged with “possession of weapons” and “possession and trafficking of antiquities”.
One of those arrested is an Italian national who arrived in Crete’s capital Heraklion on Sunday. He was met by five Greeks who took him to a nearby agricultural area where the ancient artefacts were located, state-run Ert television reported.
During the police operation, seven funerary urns dating from 1400-1300 BC, and 88 vases from the same period and the Paleolithic were seized, police said.
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“The antiquities we found are particularly rare and their value is estimated at more than a million euros,” stressed police, who also seized three shotguns, a pistol, 38 rounds of ammunition of various calibres as well as a computer and portable disks for storing digital files.
The police are continuing the investigation to determine the extent of the network’s criminal activities. Antiquities trafficking is a scourge in Greece – a country with a long history dating back to antiquity and a rich archaeological heritage.
