Cultural Property Smuggling Group Disrupted

Cultural Property Smuggling Group Disrupted

November 7 (BTA) - The Specialized Prosecution Office (SPO) said on Sunday it has brought criminal charges against three persons suspected of participating in an organized crime group for illegal acquisition, possession and offering of unidentified and unregistered objects of apparent historical and cultural value.


On November 2, officers of the Directorate General for Combating Organized Crime acting under the SPO's supervision uncovered and impounded 1,782 objects, considerable amounts of cash in leva and euro, five metal detectors, four probes, computers and flash memory in the northern regions of Shumen, Varna, Vidin and Vratsa.

Experts have been appointed to check the authenticity of each object.

The group has been active since January 2020. Some of the items were obtained as a result of illegal archaeological excavations, others were bought from treasure hunters in Bulgaria and a neighbouring country. Some of them were offered for sale, including through a closed Facebook group.

Each of the three suspects was released on 10,000 leva bail.

Photo: BTA archive

Source: Sofia