Three appear before prosecutor after antiquities hoard found
Three people have appeared before a prosecutor after their arrest in a police raid on Monday on suspicion of dealing illegally in and the theft of antiquities.
During the raid, police found dozens of icons and crucifixes from the post-Byzantine era and a Hellenistic era coin in a hidden space under the flour of a 52-year-old man’s house.
In the home of a 76-year-old man and 85-year-old woman, a search yielded post-Byzantine religious items as well as stone objects from the Hellenistic era.
The confiscated artifacts were inspected by an archaeologist, who expressed the opinion that they fall under the laws on the illegal trade in antiquities.
The house searches also yielded 587 paintings of various styles, which are also being studied to see if they are the products of crime.
