Looting in Egypt Political Hiatus

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Culture thieves are taking advantage of Egypt's current political upheaval and looters are digging holes in archaeological sites wherever they can and dealers are circulating the artefacts on a growing illegal market fuelled by an insatiable demand from collectors:

Illegal digs near ancient temples and in isolated desert sites have swelled a staggering 100-fold over the past 16 months since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak's 29-year regime and security fell apart in many areas as police simply stopped doing their jobs. The pillaging comes on top of a wave of break-ins last year at archaeological storehouses — and even at Cairo's famed Egyptian Museum, the country's biggest repository of pharaonic artifacts.

Well, I do not think the latter was quite as simple as that, but that aside... "Now that security has been beefed up at most warehouses [sic]" and museums, thieves have turned to digging.

"Criminals became so bold they are digging in landmark areas." including near the Great Pyramids in Giza, other nearby pyramids and the grand temples of the southern city of Luxor, said Maj.-Gen. Abdel-Rahim Hassan, commander of the Tourism and Antiquities Police Department. "It is no longer a crime motivated by poverty, it's naked greed and it involves educated people," he said.[...] in the security void, the treasure hunting has mushroomed, with 5,697 cases of illegal digs since the start of the anti-Mubarak uprising in early 2011— 100 times more than the previous year, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press from the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police. Related crimes have risen as well — 1,467 cases of illicit trading in antiquities and 130 attempts to smuggle antiquities abroad. At least 35 people have been killed in incidents connected to illegal digs, including 10 buried alive in the southern city of Naga Hamadi in March when the hole they dug in the ground caved in. Others were killed in disputes when thieves fell out over sharing the finds, according to Interior Ministry officials familiar with the incidents. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.  Those are just the crimes that police [have] uncovered.

 Hamza Hendawi, 'In Egypt turmoil, thieves hunt pharaonic treasures', Associated Press – 11 hours ago