Seven people suspected of having looted archaeological sites in Corsica placed in police custody

Seven people suspected of having looted archaeological sites in Corsica were arrested at their homes and taken into custody, franceinfo learned Thursday, October 21 from the gendarmerie and sources close to the investigation. They are continued “for acts of theft of cultural property, archaeological excavations without authorization, damage to archaeological heritage and failure to declare an archaeological discovery”.

The suspects are suspected of having looted nearly a thousand archaeological objects in Corsica. According to the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC), one of the services in charge of the investigation, they had been engaged in this looting throughout the north of the island for several years, in using ultra-sophisticated metal detectors, allowing them, for example, to carry out numerous underwater excavations around Bastia. Some of the looted items are over 2,000 years old. There were in particular coins, jewels, vestiges of armaments of Roman legionaries. According to archaeologists who have examined the hundreds of seized objects, their value is more heritage than financial.

The seven suspects, all Corsicans, are between 25 and 50 years old. According to Colonel Didier Berger, who heads the OCBC, there are several profiles among the seven people: “Compulsive researchers who covet a treasure, enthusiasts, lovers of ancient history who detect during their free time …” All the suspects were released at the end of their custody but will soon have to explain themselves to justice.

The preliminary investigation opened last spring by the Bastia prosecutor’s office, which enabled their arrest, continues. It is carried out jointly by around thirty investigators from the Bastia research brigade and the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC), based in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). “This operation (…) is part of the most important investigation into the trafficking of cultural property on the island to date”, indicates the OCBC.

The investigators also recall that the regulations are strict: in the event of archaeological research, the use of a metal detector is subject to prefectural authorization.