Egyptian police have arrested 11 people and seized 22 ancient Egyptian artefacts after authorities identified a gang dealing in stolen archaeological treasures, Egypt’s Ahram Online reported Wednesday (September 5th).
Authorities identified the gang after the wife of a gang member reported her husband's disappearance, following his abduction by two men who said they were deceived into paying him five million Egyptian pounds ($280,000) to invest in the sale of archaeological artefacts.
All the gang members have been captured, the interior ministry said, releasing a video showing 11 people arrested, including the two men who paid the money.
Footage showed the recovered pieces, among them 22 statues of different sizes.
Police also seized large sums of money and a quantity of opium from the gang, the ministry said.
Egyptian authorities recently received hundreds of ancient artefacts from Italy after they were recovered from smugglers in May. The pieces went on display at the Egyptian museum in Cairo in July.
