BERAT, Albania, Nov 17 – Police arrested four alleged traffickers of ancient art works stolen from churches and museums in the central town of Berat.
Mirel Sami Starova, 30, Bujar Nuredin Dine, 41, Sami Nuredin Starova, 63, were arrested while a fourth was under house arrest.
Police sequestered different ancient coins, statues and ceramic works, some old icons and paintings considered national heritage works allegedly to be illegally trafficked abroad.
Police in the town of Berat, in Southern Albania, arrested three people on Sunday accused of conspiracy to smuggle antique art.
One of the suspects was the caretaker of the National Ethnographic Museum, located in Berat.
During the operation lead by the Office of Economic Crime in the Berat Prosecutor’s office, police seized two antique statues, coins and a series of antique paintings and religious icons considered part of Albania’s national heritage.
“The sequestered was to be smuggled out of the country,” said in a statement released on Monday by the general directorate of police.
Since the collapse of communism in 1991 the state has endured a difficult and often tumultuous transition to democracy, with Albania’s museums and archeological sites suffering numerous thefts from their collections
