A 30-year-old Libyan citizen was arrested on May 24, 2017 in Alexandria, Egypt for antiquity smuggling. A number of ancient objects were seized and the man charged with illegal possession and transport for the purpose of selling portable antiquities. This was the result of collaboration between the Department of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities of Attica, Interpol and the Egyptian authorities. Last August, the Department of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities received information about the Libyan citizen's action, he was looking for buyers in Greece and Europe to sell portable antiquities he had taken away from his country. The man however did not have the required documents to enable him to travel to Greece to finalize the transaction, so he arranged to meet a buyer in Alexandria, Egypt, where the Egyptian authorities arrested him after being informed of what he was doing. This is the kind of international collaboration that is needed to disable the international illicit antiquities market. It is not clear whether the person arrested was a looter who had dug these things up himself, or a middleman. Sadly neither was the potential buyer apprehended, so we do not know whether this group of objects was sought by a dealer or collector.
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