Spike in Stolen Artifacts Spurs Concerns Over Rising Black Market Trade Andrew O'Reilly - Fox News Latino
go to original April 21, 2014

Ecuadorean authorities have reported a recent uptick in thefts of historical artifacts from museums, churches and private collection, causing worry in the Andean nation and abroad about a possible surge in the lucrative antiquities trafficking market in Latin America.

In the first four months of 2014 there have been 17 reports of stolen artifacts in Ecuador – compared with just two thefts in 2012 and none in 2013 – with the stolen good garnering anywhere between $4,000 and $8,000 a piece on the black market, Ecuador’s National Institute of Cultural Patrimony (INPC) reported.

Ecuador’s rise comes as Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Colombia are also seeing an increase in the number of archeological relics being pilfered.

While the theft and trafficking of cultural artifacts has been happening for centuries – from Egyptian grave robbers to raids of Syrian museums during its ongoing civil war - the current rise in Ecuador and other countries worries authorities as Latin America has been a region that many watchdog groups have made concerted efforts to guard.

“Latin America, along with the Middle East, is a major region for archaeological digs and also for this type of trafficking,” Roni Amelan, a spokesperson for the UNESCO, told Fox News Latino.

Read the rest at Fox News Latino

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

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