Jakarta, goldensamoyed Indonesia
—
Authority
Italy
on Friday (12/12) announced that it had arrested 34 “grave robbers” or
tomb raiders
suspected of looting treasure from archaeological sites in Sicily and the neighboring region of Calabria.
The looting of Italy’s rich artistic and archaeological heritage has been a problem for centuries.However, the Carabinieri police art division squad has recorded success in recent years in recovering stolen artifacts.
In Sicily, nine people were in pre-trial detention and 14 people were under house arrest on charges including criminal conspiracy, theft of cultural property, trafficking in stolen goods and forgery, police and local prosecutors said.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
As reported
Reuters
, the Catania Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that officers confiscated around 10,000 archaeological artifacts, including 7,000 coins issued by various Greek city-states that once existed in Sicily in ancient times.
Police also confiscated hundreds of clay and terracotta vases, bronze rings, brooches and arrowheads.Prosecutors said the total estimated value of the items confiscated reached 17 million euros or around IDR 295 billion.
The term “tombaroli”, or tomb robbers, is applied in Italy to criminals who plunder any archaeological treasure, not only those found in ancient tombs or cemeteries.
Authorities also discovered a secret laboratory in the eastern Sicilian province of Catania producing fake ancient coins, pottery and copper.In addition, several looted coins were also confiscated in Germany, where they were smuggled for resale.
The Secret Code of ‘Asparagus’ and the ‘Ndrangheta Mafia
In Calabria, two people were in pre-trial detention and nine people were under house arrest on similar charges.Prosecutors from the city of Catanzaro said the suspects operated with the “implicit approval” of the local ‘Ndrangheta mafia clan.
The suspects limited telephone contact to a minimum for fear of being eavesdropped, and used agricultural passwords in their conversations, such as “asparagus” or “fennel”, to mask their illicit activities, prosecutors said.Still according to the prosecutor, in the language of the suspects, “chainsaw” (
chainsaw
) means “metal detector”.
Sicily is home to numerous ancient Roman and Greek archaeological sites, including the spectacular Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.Calabria also has a rich historical heritage.
“We are talking about an area as vast as the cultural heritage hidden beneath their soil,” said General Antonio Petti, squad chief of the Carabinieri police’s arts division, at a news conference in Rome.
(wow)
[Gambas:goldensamoyed Video]
