The SBU exposed an organized group on smuggling cultural artifacts to the EU. During the searches, SBU officers seized a collection of antiques worth almost USD 1 million.

In particular, the law enforcement seized:

• 21 items of cold steel of various periods, including antiquity;
• armor, golden and silver coins of Kievan Rus period, as well as coins of 1800s-1900s;
• numerous antique household items.

Allegedly, the group members organized artifacts smuggling for further sale abroad. The offenders smuggled goods for foreign customers via international postal services. To conceal illegal activities, the smugglers entered false data into customs declarations.

To collect evidence, the SBU officers documented several facts of artifacts smuggling.

The seized items were sent for examination.

The issue of serving the group organizers suspicion notices of smuggling attempt is being settled.

After the pre-trial investigation, the issue of transferring the seized cultural artifacts to the Ukrainian museums will be considered.

The operation was carried out by the SBU Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime jointly with the SBU Main Investigation Department under the supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.