WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned an ancient marble sculpture of the head of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius to Algerian Ambassador Amine Kherbi today in a ceremony here. The statue had been stolen along with eight others in the 1996 robbery of an Algerian museum in the seaside town of Skikda, Algeria. ICE seized it from Christie's auction house in New York, where it had been featured in a catalogue.
"It is always a pleasure to return cultural artifacts to the people of another nation, particularly when they are stolen from public museums or other cultural heritage institutions," said Marcy M. Forman, Director of the ICE Office of Investigations. "This item is not a souvenir to be sold to the highest bidder, but a priceless treasure that holds an important place in Algerian history. ICE will do everything in its power to help preserve and protect a nation's heritage by working to locate and recover stolen antiquities."
Dating from the second century, the three-foot-high, 200-pound marble sculpture depicts Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who ruled during the period when what is now Algeria was part of the Roman Empire. The marble head emerged in the international market of cultural antiquities and was spotted by INTERPOL, which alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that an antiquity in an auction catalogue might be a stolen artifact. ICE experts worked with Algerian scholars to verify the statue's identity and then notified the U.S. auction house that the piece was subject to seizure. The seizure was not contested.
Such cultural artifacts illegally brought into the United States are subject to the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CCPI). The CCPI Act allows the United States to impose import restrictions on archaeological or ethnological material when pillage of these materials places a nation's cultural heritage in jeopardy.
The bust is the latest cultural property that ICE agents have seized and returned to its rightful country in recent years. Some other cases investigated by ICE include:
ICE's Office of International Affairs and Office of Investigation works to identify and return items of cultural and historical value to their countries of origin. ICE attaches in over 50 locations around the world work closely with their host governments, the State Department and U.S. Customs and Border protection to identify antiquities that are smuggled into the United States.
You may also visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.