Egypt Receives 48 Trafficked Antiquities From the FBI in Los Angeles

The FBI's Los Angeles Field Office handed 48 Egyptian antiquities back to Egypt at a ceremony on August 21, and Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Consul General Hossam Eldeen Aly received the pieces on the state's behalf. The objects span the Pharaonic, Roman and Coptic periods and include carved figures, amulets, jewelry and tomb equipment. FBI Art Crime Team agent Allen Grove said the items were recovered from a suspected trafficker who has since died, and that investigators are still seeking co-conspirators. The bureau says U.S. agencies have returned more than 5,000 archaeological and cultural artifacts to Egypt over the past decade.