The Greek government has celebrated the return of 29 looted antiquities from New York as vindication of its intensified campaign against international trafficking networks.
Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni described each repatriation as "profoundly important," emphasizing that Greece has positioned the fight against illicit cultural heritage trade—which she linked directly to organized crime and terrorism—at the forefront of its international agenda.
The artefacts, collectively valued at $3 million, were formally handed over at a ceremony this month at the Consulate General of Greece in New York. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office facilitated the return following investigations into notorious smuggling operations run by British art dealer Robin Symes and trafficker Eugene Alexander.
Symes, who died in 2023, was exposed as the ringleader of an international looting syndicate spanning decades after a 2016 probe by Italy's Carabinieri art investigation squad.
This bronze piece was donated to the Met Museum in New York, but should never have left Greece.
Among the recovered treasures is a 600BC bronze sculpture dubbed "Bronze Foot in the Form of a Sphinx," though it may actually depict a siren. The piece was seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year. It had passed through Symes' hands before a private collector donated it to the Met in 2000.
Another significant object is a 6th-century BC bronze appliqué depicting a gorgon—a running mythological female monster with serpentine hair.
Originally part of a bronze vessel, it was sold by trafficker Robert Hecht to Fortuna Fine Arts gallery, currently facing federal fraud charges.
A private collector purchased it from Fortuna before loaning it to the Met, where authorities seized it this year.
"These 29 extraordinary pieces were recovered thanks to the hard work of our prosecutors and analysts," Bragg stated, pledging continued collaboration with international partners.
Since taking office in 2022, Bragg's Antiquities Trafficking Unit has recovered nearly 2,400 artefacts from 47 countries, worth a combined $260 million.
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