Four stone-and-jade Mayan sculptures were seized at the Tijuana airport. Photo: Federal police
Four Mayan sculptures, made of stone and jade, were confiscated by federal police after suspects were accused of trying to smuggle them out of the country.
Relics are considered part of the national heritage and cannot be privately owned, much less transported.
Police weren’t necessarily looking for Mayan art. They were working under Operation Titan, which combats drug trafficking. The arrest was made at Tijuana International Airport in Baja California and the sculptures arrived from Xochitepec, in Morelos.
Authorities said pieces did not have documents from the Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Zones that would have allowed for their removal.
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