The Spanish Civil Guard he recovered in a storage room a Brothersin the province of Cordoba, 119 archaeological works of immense value, and arrested a married couple on charges of crimes against historical heritage, smuggling e recipe. Among the works found, according to reports from the newspaper The countrythere are extremely rare ceramics and ancient coins, architectural elements from the 7th century with few similar specimens in the world and even sculptures ROMANincluding a female bust defined by experts as “a unique and absolutely exceptional element”. The Cordoba Museum reports that the woman depicted refers to “an idealized realistic representation, a characteristic element of Roman high-imperial portraiture, starting from Augustus”, adding that the bust “is up to the best Roman sculptural tradition made in Hispanic workshops”. Regarding the other finds, particular attention is paid to one silver republican coin later than 44 BC, of the same type as those intended to pay the army of Gross in the war against Octavian.
The investigations began by combining declarations from collectors and periodic inspections of establishments dedicated to the sale and purchase of cultural assets: from here emerged the existence of a married couple known in the world of black market. In a statement, the agents declared that the couple “lived a normal life, without luxuries, and acted at different hours of the day, in order to be able to go unnoticed and introduce goods into the smuggled goods market, thus obtaining great economic benefits“. After months of observation, the den in which the works of art were found was identified, then transferred to the Archaeological Museum of Cordoba for evaluation and conservation interventions.
The action carried out by the Guardia Civil is part of a wider international operation, called Pandora VIIdirected against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods in Europe, concluded with 60 arrests e more than 10,000 works seized.