The United States has returned 133 stolen antiquities, worth over $13 million, to Pakistan. This event, held at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York, marked the fifth repatriation of artifacts to Pakistan, which has seen numerous relics from the Gandhara period stolen. These artifacts, significant for their cultural, historical, or archaeological value, include man-made objects such as art pieces and tools.
The illegal trade of antiquities, estimated to be a multi-billion-dollar global industry by a 2018 Standard Chartered Bank report, often finances criminal and militant groups, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
The ceremony, covered by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), featured some of the returned artifacts. Pakistani Consul General in New York, Aamer Ahmed Atozai, announced that the artifacts would be displayed in Pakistani museums. He also signed an agreement with Matthew Bogdanos, Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, for the repatriation of the items.
Bogdanos expressed satisfaction in returning the artifacts, highlighting Pakistan’s rich cultural heritage dating back 5,000 years. The US and Pakistan have a history of collaborating to return stolen artifacts. In 2021, the US returned 192 stolen antiquities valued at $3.4 million following an investigation into Indian-American art dealer Subhash Kapoor. In August 2022, the US returned 104 artifacts worth $3.3 million to Pakistan, part of the thousands of relics looted from Asian countries and seized from Kapoor.
