ICE - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

04/30/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/30/2026 16:58

DHS and US Department of State announce return of stolen cultural property to the Hellenic Republic of Greece

WASHINGTON - ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and its partners repatriated 26 ancient artifacts seized by U.S. law enforcement officials to the Hellenic Republic of Greece during a ceremony at the Embassy of Greece in Washington D.C. April 23.

The artifacts were recovered through investigations conducted by HSI in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and the State Department.

"ICE HSI takes great pride in leveraging our investigative expertise and customs authority, along with our partners, that led to the repatriation of these 26 invaluable antiquities illicitly plundered from their homeland back to the people of Greece," said ICE Deputy Director Charles Wall. "These treasured artifacts were a valued part of life in the ancient world. I am especially grateful to the investigative and prosecutorial team responsible for recovering and returning these priceless treasures."

The artifacts include 25 ancient coins dating as far back as the ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods, and a 500-pound marble torso of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing.

The return of these stolen artifacts continues a long tradition of commitment to the protection of Greek cultural heritage. Since 2007, HSI has repatriated more than 200 objects of cultural heritage to Greece, many of which were seized under the bilateral cultural property agreement between the United States and Greece implemented in 2011.

The pieces returned include the following:

  • The marble torso of Asclepius, ancient Greek god of medicine and healing from the 1st or 2nd century and stands 40 inches tall. The statue was seized by law enforcement after claims made in paperwork that accompanied it proved fraudulent after an HSI and CBP investigation.
  • A gold coin of Lampasakos, Mysia, minted in 370 B.C.E., depicts Hercules on the front and Pegasus on the reverse. The gold coin was excavated by an unknown looter and later sold to a middleman, who subsequently sold it to the head of a criminal organization for €7,000. It was illegally exported out of Greece and into Germany, where it failed to sell at an auction house before being sent to a U.S. auction house in Philadelphia.
  • A bronze coin of Macedonia, from the 4th century B.C.E., depicts Persephone on the front and Hydra on the reverse. Greek police determined that the coin was illegally excavated and exported from the country by the same criminal organization that looted the gold coin from Lampasakos. After it was illegally removed from Greece, the coin was sold at auction in 2009 and offered again for sale in 2017, before it appeared at the same U.S. auction house as the gold coin.
  • A silver didrachma of Rhodes, minted in 304 B.C.E., depicts Helios on the front and the "Rose of Rhodes" on the reverse. HSI Memphis seized the coin after discovering violations of the Cultural Property Implementation Act, smuggling, and importation; the importer or shipper failed to satisfactory evidence that the coin was exported from Greece prior to the imposition of import restrictions.

Protecting and preserving the world's cultural heritage and knowledge of past civilizations is one of HSI's Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities program's primary goals. CPAA conducts training and outreach, supports cultural property investigations, and enhances international relations by working with foreign governments and citizens to return their nations' looted cultural heritage and stolen artwork.

Since 2007, the CPAA program has partnered with the U.S. Department of State's Cultural Heritage Center and the Smithsonian Institution to train HSI special agents, members of the FBI, customs officers and prosecutors in current techniques while educating them on trends for conducting criminal investigations and properly handling cultural property. Since that time, CPAA has repatriated over 25,000 objects to more than 40 countries worldwide.

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