Ashraf Omar Eldarir, a 52-year-old Brooklyn man, pleaded guilty to smuggling numerous precious artifacts, including ancient Egyptian relics, from 2019 to 2020. He was caught at JFK Airport with around 600 items hidden in suitcases, and he failed to declare them upon arriving from Cairo. Claiming the artifacts belonged to his family, Eldarir's case highlights the issue of cultural relic smuggling, which has seen increasing federal scrutiny, as seen in broader operations targeting stolen art global trade.
These cultural treasures traveled across centuries and millennia, only to end up unceremoniously stuffed in a dirt-caked suitcase at J.F.K., Richard Donoghue said.
Mr. Eldarir told investigators that the items belonged to his family, claiming he planned to use them to furnish his apartment.
Federal and local officials have increasingly targeted the smuggling and the theft of art relics, albeit on a larger scale than that of Mr. Eldarir's operation.
Last year, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged an art dealer with smuggling thousands of stolen artifacts from Italy, including Roman sculptures.
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