Police Seize $100M Pre-Columbian Collection
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Police in Munich, Germany, said yesterday that they seized a disputed collection of Mayan, Aztecan, and Incan art treasures whose value is estimated at $100 million.
Costa Rican officials had asked Bavarian authorities last week to track down the collection. A 66-year-old Costa Rican collector, who says the works are his property, organized their transport to Germany from Spain, the Munich police said in a statement. There was no export license from Spain, where the art treasures had been in the safekeeping of the Spanish authorities to clear up a dispute over the ownership, the statement said.
Governments of countries including Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador also lay claim to the treasures and are demanding their return, the statement said.
The police said it is not yet clear how the collection came together and nor is it known whether the treasures were stolen. Munich police officials are cooperating with authorities in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Spain, the statement said.
