U.S. Customs Service
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 19, 2001
Contact: Media Services
Phone: 202-927-5116
Mirian Vargas (202) 986-5116
Embassy of El Salvador
Washington, D.C. -- Pre-Columbian artifacts valued at nearly $100,000 were returned to the Government of El Salvador today by the U.S. Customs Service. 42 historical ceramics seized by Customs were handed over to Salvadoran Ambassador Rene Leon at a ceremony at the Organization of American States.
Douglas M. Browning, Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs, representing the U.S. Customs Service, called the return "an examples of the key role that Customs plays, not only protecting our own border, but also safe guarding the cultural history of other nations. Customs is especially sensitive to preserving rich artistic traditions from the looters and profiteers who show no respect or reverence for the nations they plunder."
U.S. Customs Inspectors uncovered the artifacts at the San Francisco Airport on October 21, 2000 when they examined two commercial shipments labeled "handicrafts" that arrived from El Salvador aboard a Delta Airlines flight. Upon further inspection the so-called "handicrafts" were determined to be Pre-Columbian antiquities which are subject to import restrictions under U.S. law.
Since 1987, the U.S. Government has restricted the importation of Pre-Columbian artifacts from El Salvador. The Department of State and the Government of El Salvador in March 2000 signed a bilateral agreement renewing this protection. Both countries are party to the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.