Last Monday, May 13, Chilean authorities formally returned 117 fossils dated back 400 million years ago to Morocco at a repatriation ceremony held in the National Library of Chile. The then-lost artifacts were seized from smugglers by the country's customs officials.
About the 117 Repatriated Moroccan Fossils
It was San Antonio Customs Inspector Ximena Cartagena who realized a cargo that was suspiciously declared as "ornaments" was actually a collection of paleontological pieces of heritage value.
Between 2018 and 2022, Metropolitan Customs officials Ximena Oyarzún and Jorge Mercado found themselves in a similar predicament, when items presumed to be mundane transports inspected from the Traveler and Courier sectors of the Santiago International Airport turned out to be valuable artifacts.
After a long joint investigative work carried out by Chile's Customs, the Council of National Monuments, the National Cultural Heritage Service, the Chancellery, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco, the 117 fossils were finally sent back to their country of origin.
Chilean National Heritage Service Director Nelida Pozo Kudo praised this collaboration between the countries' agencies and customs arms to rightfully repatriate the artifacts.
"Chilean customs' seizure of these Moroccan-origin fossils and their return to the kingdom is a clear example of both countries' commitment to combating illicit access to cultural property in accordance with international law," he said.
"Smuggling of antiquities and fossils dating back millions of years may be worse than drug trafficking," added Morocco's ambassador to Chile, Kenza El Ghali.
In addition, during the ceremony, representatives of the two nations took the opportunity to perfect a cultural collaboration agreement with their respective signatures.
