The Guardia Civil have uncovered a workshop in Calasparra where artifacts from archeological digs were prepared for sale on the black market and have arrested the alleged head of a criminal ring.
Seven arrests have been made in total, four from Calasparra, of Spanish men between the ages of 24 and 65 years. They are being investigated as the alleged authors of offences connected with pillaging artifacts from archeological and paleontological digs.
The investigations have centred on a Calasparrian, the alleged “head” of the ring of accomplices who, supposedly, used metal detectors at archeological digs. On receiving the artifacts, mostly coins, the “head” polished and generally improved the aspect of the coins for sale on the internet. In case of a sale the accomplices received a percentage, Guardia Civil sources allege.
Officers found some 2,000 antique coins in the workshop in Calasparra, as well as notebooks with notes, which facilitated the identification of six other suspects.
A large quantity of archeological pieces were also discovered in a house in Abrarán, bringing the total amount of property recovered in the police operation, Dunopio, to 23,000 pieces: 3,000 antique coins; and 20,000
artifacts including mosaics, ceramics, and beadwork.
Specialists in historic heritage in the Guardia Civil began the investigation after identifying the sale of artifacts from archeological sites on the internet. They were able to identify the person offering the artifacts for sale and trace more than two thousand transactions. Included in these transactions was a trident Visigoth and an Islamic piece in gold worth 1,000 euros.
The majority of the artifacts sold or recovered come from archeological sites in North East Murcia and some from Jaen and Albacete.
The investigation remains open.
Photo provided by the Guardia Civil
