Salerno Seizures

In May 2017, Italian authorities seized thousands of Egyptian antiquities that had been smuggled into the Italian city of Salerno in a diplomatic container.

The recovered objects included 21,660 ancient bronze and silver coins in addition to 195 small archaeological pieces—funerary masks, amphorae, wooden sculptures, bronzes, Oshabti statuettes, and a sarcophagus lid. The pieces were shipped from Alexandria in diplomatic containers meant for the transport of household goods. However, an error in the documents accompanying them meant that the containers sat unclaimed for a month on the Salerno docks. It was only then that the Italian police inspected the containers and discovered the archaeological goods. 

In March 2018, after the Carabinieri opened an investigation, they notified the Egyptian authorities, whose public prosecutor responded with a claim for the trafficked objects if they proved to be authentic. Egyptian and Italian experts researched the pieces and determined that they came from the ancient city of Al Minya in southern Egypt. As they lacked provenance information and any valid documentation, they were considered to be products of illegal looting. 

Because the antiquities were shipped in diplomatic containers, which are not subject to customs inspections, Italian authorities assumed they belonged to an Egyptian diplomat. However, Egyptian authorities alleged they were in fact smuggled by an Italian citizen, Ladislav Otakar Skakal, a former Italian honorary consul in Luxor who left his post in 2015. Skakal was allegedly supplied with the antiquities by Egyptians and smuggled them to Italy in 2017. 

Egypt sentenced Skakal to 15 years of imprisonment in absentia and a fine of one million Egyptian pounds. He is rumored to be in Rome, despite Egypt placing him on the Interpol Red List in 2019. While not a mandatory arrest warrant, a Red List listing is a request for Interpol member states to detain the named person for extradition. Italian authorities have denied that Skakal was the intended recipient of the shipment. 

In addition to Skakal, Raouf Boutros Ghali, the brother of former Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali, was found to have assisted Skalal in the smuggling. Boutros Ghali was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and a six-million Egyptian pound fine. Financial limitations were also placed on Medhat Michel Girgis Salib and his wife, Sahar Zaki Ragheb, who allegedly own a shipping company. Lastly, Egypt called for the extradition of Massimiliano Sponzilli, the former Italian trade commissioner to Egypt. This network would have been responsible for tens of thousands of looted antiquities disappearing into the market if not for their accidental discovery and the collaboration of Italian and Egyptian authorities.  

The looted pieces were returned to Egypt and landed at the Cairo Airport in July 2018. They have been exhibited in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo following their conservation and are due to be included in the collection of the Grand Egyptian Museum following its opening in November 2025.