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(Left to Right) Professor Mark Vlasic, Georgetown University ; Ambassador Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, Embassy of the Republic of Yemen to the USA ; Steve Francis, Acting Executive Associate Director, HSI
HSI, CBP, Department of State, US Attorney’s Office, Smithsonian Institution conduct repatriation of stolen cultural property to Yemeni Embassy
February 21, 2023
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The artifacts included 64 relief carved stone heads, a bronze inscribed bowl, a stone Funerary Stele from around the 1st century BCE, and 11 pages from an 8th century Quran.
The truck had traveled 500 miles from the renowned J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where the painting was displayed over the summer following a complex restoration by Getty conservators to repair damage sustained due to the theft.
HSI Tucson leads efforts in transportation and security of repatriated painting back to University of Arizona
September 29, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
A painting stolen from the University of Arizona Museum of Art 37 years ago has been brought back home due in large part by the careful and meticulous planning by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with university police.
The Durga Stele
Black Rock of Durga Stele returned to people of Nepal
August 26, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The Durga Stele was returned during a repatriation ceremony Aug 24 attended by Nepal’s Acting Consul General, Bishnu Gautam, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Mike Alfonso.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky J. Patel, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, announced the return of 30 antiquities to the Kingdom of Cambodia
30 looted antiquities returned to Kingdom of Cambodia
August 9, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
On Aug. 8, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky J. Patel, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, announced the return of 30 antiquities to the Kingdom of Cambodia, which were stolen as part of an organized looting network and sold by antiquities dealer, Douglas Latchford.
Madagascar Repatriation Ceremony
US investigation leads to return of Madagascar fossils
April 15, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
ICE's HSI Detroit repatriated two ammonite fossils to Madagascar April 4.
French Repatriation
US investigation leads to return of gold ingots, other historical artifacts to France
March 2, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The artifacts were transferred from HSI to Honorable Phillippe Etienne, Ambassador of France to the United States, during a repatriation ceremony at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. Among the repatriated artifacts were a gold coin (3rd century) and five gold ingots (18th century), recovered from the ocean floor where they had remained for centuries, and a human skull (18th century) that was stolen from Paris’ catacombs.
Pre-Columbian clay ancient artifacts returned to the Dominican Republic
February 25, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
There were 28 suspected Pre-Columbian stones and one piece of wooden art identified after a CBP inspection of an incoming ferry boat. Experts from the Puerto Rico Archeological Department indicated that some of the artifacts belonged to the Taino Indian culture and were considered archaeological objects.
ICE returns ancient artifacts to the Republic of Iraq
ICE returns ancient artifacts to the Republic of Iraq
January 20, 2022
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
One of the artifacts is a partial cuneiform stone tablet. Experts say it is thousands of years old and may have left the country during looting at the start of the 20th century.
HSI, US State Department return stolen artifacts to Mali
November 22, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
Among the repatriated artifacts were six large funerary urns (circa 900-1700 A.D.); a comb-impressed red slip double cup vessel (circa 800-1500 A.D.); a high-necked polychrome pot (circa 1100-1400 A.D.); and 913 ground and flax stones and axe heads from the Neolithic Period.   
US returns stolen ancient artifacts to Iraq in repatriation ceremony
US returns stolen ancient artifacts to Iraq in repatriation ceremony
September 24, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The “Gilgamesh Dream Tablet,” originated in what is now modern-day Iraq and entered the United States in violation of federal law. An international auction house (the “Auction House”) later sold the tablet to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (“Hobby Lobby”), an arts-and-crafts retailer based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for display at the Museum of the Bible.
ICE returns ancient stone lintels to Thailand
ICE returns ancient stone lintels to Thailand
June 29, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
In May 2017, the Ministry of Culture notified HSI Bangkok that two stolen sandstone lintels, from Khmer era sanctuaries, were exhibited at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. A lintel is an architectural support and artistic element of a structure which is placed over a doorway or window. The artifacts were stolen from northeastern Thailand sometime during the late 1950s or early 1960s. 
HSI returns stolen sacred artifacts to Thailand in commemoration ceremony
HSI returns stolen sacred artifacts to Thailand in commemoration ceremony
May 26, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The return of the lintels to Thailand marks the culmination of a three-year probe by HSI Bangkok, HSI San Francisco, and subsequent prosecution by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Calif., that resulted in the City of San Francisco’s forfeiture of the sacred artifacts that had been on exhibit at the city’s Asian Art Museum.
(Left to right): Paul J. Jarrett, program manager for HSI Cultural Property, Art & Antiquities; F. Gus Sánchez, superintendent of Chamizal National Memorial; Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de León, Mexican consul general in El Paso, Texas; Erik P. Breitzke, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso; and Eric S. Cohen, consul general of the United States in Cd. Juarez, Mexico.
HSI El Paso returns more than 500 pre-Hispanic era artifacts to Mexico
April 15, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The pieces include stone arrowheads, knife blades and tools that were illegally imported into the United States from Mexico and offered for sale. The pre-Hispanic period refers to the time before the Spanish conquests in the Western Hemisphere.
HSI Arizona returns hundreds of pre-Columbian artifacts to Mexico
HSI Arizona returns hundreds of pre-Columbian artifacts to Mexico
March 9, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The HSI Phoenix case began Oct. 8, 2013, when special agents were contacted by a representative of the Chandler Historical Society regarding multiple suspected pre-Columbian Chinesco-Western pottery figures with origins as far back as 100 B.C., which were in the possession of the City of Chandler Museum. HSI special agents promptly met with the museum’s director who turned over 10 Shaft Tomb artifacts for further review and investigation. Through an archeological expert analysis, the authenticity of these artifacts was confirmed as being more than 1,500 years old and originating from Mexico.
Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer (left), who oversees HSI operations in the PNW, transfers 51 Greek Hellenistic and early Islamic coins to Sandra Kroupa, Book Arts and Rare Book Curator, for Univ of Washington Libraries Special Collection.
HSI Pacific Northwest investigation, CBP seizure result in transfer of 51 ancient coins to University of Washington for historical research
February 19, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe and Customs and Border Protection seizure resulted in the transfer of 51 Greek Hellenistic and early Islamic coins to the University of Washington Libraries in a ceremony hosted on the UW campus, Thursday.
HSI investigation leads to the return of 2 Thai religious relics reported stolen by Thailand and displayed at San Francisco Asian Art Museum
HSI investigation leads to the return of 2 Thai religious relics reported stolen by Thailand and displayed at San Francisco Asian Art Museum
February 10, 2021
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The Thai lintels are two 1,500-pound hand-carved decorative relics which, according to court documents, were originally part of ancient religious temples in Thailand and are prime examples of the decorative lintel and material art traditions of Southeast Asian art.
Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Italy
ICE returns 9th century manuscripts, Roman coin to Italy
October 30, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations
The repatriation Thursday highlights the unique relationship between HSI and Italy, particularly with the in investigating and repatriating cultural property. To date, HSI’s attaché office in Rome has conducted more than 60 investigations in coordination with Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale.
ICE recovers 19th century painting stolen from Italian monastery
ICE recovers 19th century painting stolen from Italian monastery
September 3, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

HSI Dallas was able to locate the painting after receiving a tip from the HSI Attaché Office in Rome, Italy, in 2019. Based on that tip, HSI tracked the painting to a private art collector in the Dallas-area who had purchased the painting in 2015 from a dealer who was unaware that it was stolen.

Los Angeles-area man charged with unlawfully importing ancient mosaic
July 24, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi, 53, was named in an indictment that charges him with one count of entry of goods into the United States falsely classified as to quality and value.

HSI
Brooklyn man indicted on cultural artifacts smuggling charges
July 6, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

Following an investigation by ICE’s HSI New York’s CPAA unit with assistance from U.S. CBP, Ashraf Omar Eldarir, a U.S. citizen, is being charged with smuggling Egyptian cultural property into the United States.

Civil action filed to forfeit rare cuneiform tablet from Hobby Lobby
Civil action filed to forfeit rare cuneiform tablet from Hobby Lobby
May 18, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

Pursuant to ongoing Cultural Property, Arts & Antiquities investigations by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, a civil complaint was filed Monday to forfeit a rare cuneiform tablet bearing a portion of the epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian epic poem considered one the world’s oldest works of literature.

2 historic Khmer statues returned to Cambodia
2 historic Khmer statues returned to Cambodia
April 9, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

The first item is an 11th Century sandstone Khmer statue torso of the Khleang style wearing a Khmer sampot, a traditional garment of Cambodia. The second item, dated between the early 10th to late 10th century, is a large gray sandstone Khmer statue torso of an unidentified deity.

ICE HSI Wilmington and Delaware U.S. Attorney's Office recover most rare stolen Christopher Columbus letter
ICE HSI Wilmington and Delaware U.S. Attorney's Office recover most rare stolen Christopher Columbus letter
January 22, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

Following a lengthy investigation by HSI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, and the Italian Carabinieri Command for Protection of Cultural Heritage, investigators determined that, sometime in or around 1875, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, Italy acquired a copy of the Columbus Letter-Plannck I, described above. At an unknown time between 1985 and 1988, the Columbus Letter-Plannck I was stolen from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.

Present for the return ceremony :(Left to right) U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Aaron L. Weisman, Wheeler family members, HSI Providence Special Agent Michael Polouski and HSI Tacoma (Washington) Special Agent Michael Roots; standing in rear : HSI Providence Resident Agent In Charge Bryan Lewis.
Collection of historic stone projectile points returned to R.I. Haffenreffer Museum following HSI probe
January 15, 2020
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

The stone projectile points, used primarily for hunting, were unearthed by Harrie M. Wheeler, a noted Rhode Island collector and amateur archeologist, during excavations that he conducted between 1928 and 1950 in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

ICE HSI San Francisco facilitates gift of paintings to the Philippines
ICE HSI San Francisco facilitates gift of paintings to the Philippines
November 25, 2019
|Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

In June 2019, HSI was contacted by the son of a former U.S. soldier who had legally purchased two Fernando Amorsolo paintings while stationed in the Philippines near the end of World War II.

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Updated: 03/10/2023