Egypt thwarts mummy smugglers
2008-03-12 21:14
Cairo - Egyptian police arrested three would-be smugglers trying to sell intricately painted Pharaonic-era mummies for more than $5m, a security source said on Wednesday.
Tourist police in the town of Fayyum, south of Cairo, arrested the men as they sought to sell the four mummies and other looted artefacts on the international antiquities black market.
The source said the mummies appeared to have been stolen from an illegal dig carried out by the men near Minya, 120km south of Fayum, and are likely previously unknown to antiquities authorities.
"One of the mummies is of a child, the other three are of men, all covered with linen and plaster," the source said, adding that another 10 small statues and a Pharaonic sarcophagus decorated with hieroglyphs were also seized.
"The smugglers were arrested before they could sell the mummies to antiquities traders for about $5.3m," the source said.
The police are now trying to work out exactly how old the artefacts are and who the mummies are. The smugglers face a minimum of three years in jail.
- SAPA