ICE repatriates 58 objects of cultural heritage to the People’s Republic of China

WASHINGTON - ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with law enforcement partners repatriated 58 culturally significant objects during a ceremony at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China on September 16. The 58 artifacts came from investigations conducted by nine HSI offices, and in collaboration with the FBI, the U.S. State Department, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

President Trump, Secretary Mullin and Acting Director Venturella's leadership has empowered ICE and HSI to execute their mission and ensure every investigation has the necessary resources to deliver results. The international demand for these objects is high and returning these historical artifacts disrupts criminal enterprises.

The artifacts include two sculptures of Bodhisattvas; a full skeleton of a Psittacosaurus (a small, beaked dinosaur that lived between 105 and 120 million years ago); terra cotta statues of horsemen, and other fossilized dinosaur bones and eggs. 

The United States and China first entered into a bilateral agreement for the protection of Chinese cultural heritage in 2014. This agreement has been renewed every five years, most recently in 2024, and it lays out important restrictions for Chinese heritage entering the United States. Since 2009, HSI has repatriated more than 120 objects of cultural heritage to China.

HSI's efforts in these investigations serve two purposes: stopping the black-market trade in ancient antiquities often used to fund criminal activities and preserving the history and culture associated with these priceless artifacts in their return to their rightful owners.

"Our agency recognizes the extraordinary power that objects and fossils alike have in telling the history of our ancestors as well as of the planet itself," said ICE Homeland Security Investigations International Operations Assistant Director Ricardo Mayoral. "The trafficking of cultural property not only robs civilizations of their heritage, but also channels money into transnational criminal organizations, results in international money laundering, and even funds terrorist activities."

HSI agents work closely with domestic and international partners to identify, investigate, and recover stolen or illegally exported artifacts. The agency's Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program targets criminal networks involved in the theft, smuggling and sale of artifacts, including those looted from archaeological sites or stolen from museums. Conducting these investigations and returning stolen heritage to the country of origin strengthens diplomatic relations with foreign nations.