2001

August 2001

• U.S. Customs Press Release, Seattle U.S. Customs Returns Priceless Cultural Artifacts to Mexico, Peru, and Panama. On August 4, 2001, U.S. Customs and the U.S. Attorney's office in Seattle return hundreds of priceless pre-Columbian artifacts to the governments of Mexico, Peru, and Panama. The items were seized from Frank Stegmeier who was indicted in May 1994, for violations of the National Stolen Property Act.

June 2001

• U.S. State Department Media Note Seized Pre-Columbian Objects Repatriated to El Salvador in First Implementation of U.S. Import Restriction. On June 19, the U.S. Customs Service returned objects with an estimated value of $100,000 to El Salvador in a ceremony at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC. The items were seized at the San Francisco airport.

May 2001

• U.S. Customs Press Release, NY U.S. Customs Service Returns Rare 10th Century Burial Sculpture to China. A rare marble wall panel looted from an ancient tomb in Northern China and offered for sale at a NY auction house was returned to China.

March 2001

• Destructive Frenzy in Afghanistan, Archaeology Online News (March 2, 2001). On February 26, supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar announced that all pre-Islamic statues in the Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan were to be destroyed. Reactions from around the world are uniformly outraged and saddened.

January 2001

• Rose, Mark Stolen Sculptures from Cyrene, Libya, Archaeology Online Features (January 30, 2001). At least fifteen stone heads have been stolen from the storerooms of the former University of Pennsylvania Expedition to Cyrene. It is likely that the sculptures were smuggled into Egypt fairly soon afterward. None of the thieves have been apprehended.
• U.S. Embassy Press Release, Athens, FBI Returns Stolen Artifacts to Greek Authorities. On January 18, in a ceremony at the New York City office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), American authorities handed over to Greek officials 274 artifacts that were stolen in April of 1990 from the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth.

2000 Reports

1999 Reports

1998 Reports