Two Americans accused of smuggling Mayan relics in Guatemala

Two Americans are potentially facing charges over artefact smuggling from Guatemala and trafficking in national patrimony when they were caught in a car load of antiquities ("90 percent of them were real pre-hispanic relics, while 10 percent were replicas"), but many of the reports are focusing on the fact that only three days before, one of them had reportedly been apprehended at a Guatemalan airport attempting to illegally take two 1,000-year-old Mayan relics out of the country. Now the same U.S. woman has been caught again, this time riding in a vehicle with 166 other pre-Hispanic artefacts (Sonia Perez, 'US woman accused of smuggling Mayan relics in Guatemala' The Associated Press Nov. 14, 2022).

The case of Stephanie Allison Jolluck began Thursday at the Guatemala City airport when inspectors were reportedly tipped off by the weight of her luggage and found two large Maya stone carvings in her bags. She told authorities she had bought the pieces, made between 600 and 900 A.D,, at a market in the tourist town of Antigua, Guatemala. A judge released her on a form of personal recognizance, but on Sunday police stopped a car she was in and said they found dozens of other relics. Another American, Giorgio Salvador Rossilli, was also in the vehicle.

The case is discussed in other media too: Nathaniel Janowitz, 'American Busted Twice in 3 Days Smuggling Mayan Artifacts Out of Guatemala', Vice Nov 15 2022; Miguel Barrientos Castaneda, 'Ligan a proceso a estadounidenses por tráfico de piezas arqueológicas, pero juez los favorece con caución económica' Guatevision.com 15 Nov 2022 (pictures); Sonia Perez, 'Guatemala expat community roiled by relic smuggling charges' Yahoo, Nov. 15, 2022. BBC 'Guatemala arrests two in car full of Maya artefacts' Tue, November 15, 2022 (pictures).