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Press release: 'HSI Los Angeles repatriates chalice to Argentine Republic'

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles announced the repatriation of an artifact of cultural and ethnological significance to the Argentine Republic Oct. 5.[...] HSI agents recovered the vessel in Studio City during a routine inspection of items being shipped to the United States. Experts at the University of California, Los Angeles determined the item to be an ancient ceremonial drinking vessel originating in Argentina. A pre-Columbian art expert revealed the artifact was a genuine antiquity and dated it to be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old. The piece belongs to the Condorhuasi-Alamito or Aguada cultures in present-day northwest Argentina.

"The vessel HSI agents recovered is a significant part of the ethnological and cultural history for the people in northwest Argentina,” said HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang. "No one should profit from smuggled goods and this repatriation shows the success of cooperative efforts among foreign governments and HSI."

Rick St. Hilaire @RickStHilaire comments:

When @TheJusticeDept has a "seize and send" policy that routinely repossesses and repatriates smuggled artifacts without arrests and prosecutions of cultural heritage traffickers, it's easy for criminals to dismiss tough talk that "No one should profit from smuggled goods..."