EIGHTY-FIVE people have been arrested in a nationwide operation against pillaging, fraud and illegal gold trafficking.
The arrests were made in Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, Jaen, Malaga, Granada and Valencia, and dismantled a network which stole and trafficked archaeological pieces.
Police have seized jewellery, 55 kilos of molten gold and silver, €900,000 in cash, weapons, metal detectors and documents of interest.
The network operated mainly in Andalucia, but also took remains from sites in other regions, most of them dating back to the Roman era.
However, amongst the thousands of pieces found, there are objects dating from periods including Medieval, Visigoth, Prehistoric, Arab and many more.
They left the sites which they pillaged in such a state that it hindered proper archaeological studies.
After been cleaned and catalogued, most of the pieces were sold online, and others directly to collectors. Most were originals, but in some cases, after realizing the value of the items, the gang would make copies which were aged artificially.
The gold was mainly sent to Germany, Turkey, Italy and Switzerland to be refined and later returned to Spain to be sold.
Source: Euro Weekly [December 13, 2010]