The Manhattan District Attorney’s (MDA) office in New York City announced on Friday that the United States had returned to Pakistan 192 stolen antiquities worth nearly $3.4 million. The investigation into the art dealer had begun after the dealer was revealed to be of Indian descent in the United States.
According to the release, 187 of the artifacts were seized from the art dealer known as Subhash Kapoor, making him one of the most prolific antiquities smugglers in the world.
Ayesha Ali, who serves as the Consul General of Pakistan in New York, and Thomas Acocella, who serves as an Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge for US Homeland Security Investigations, were present at the ceremony where the antiquities were handed back over to Pakistan. The ceremony took place at the Pakistan Consulate.
One of the works of art and artifacts was a Gandharan statue that depicted Maitreya, an enlightened version of the Buddha. The statue was stolen from Pakistan in the 1990s and smuggled into New York City.
When he was accused of smuggling and selling stolen artifacts, the MDA alleged that Kapoor had an art gallery in New York City called “Art of the Past” and a side company that specialized in selling antiquities from Southeast Asia. Both of these businesses were located in Southeast Asia.
It was reported that the artifacts had been plundered from a Neolithic archaeological site in Pakistan before being smuggled to New York.
According to the report, the employees of the art gallery hired a storage container and kept the items there until they were seized by US officials earlier this year.
Archaeologists in Pakistan made the discovery of the archaeological site at Mehrgarh in 1974; however, the site has since been subject to theft.
