Indictments in alleged looting of ancient Four Corners burial sites - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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The on Wednesday released details of 12 indictments related to 23 Law enforcement officials have started arresting those named inthe indictments, most of whom live in according to the Interior Department. The indictmentw were handed down by a Salt Lake City grand Roughly 250 artifacts estimated to be worth morethan $335,0090 allegedly were stolen by the according to the Interior Department. The artifactzs include Anasazi pottery, createfd by Native Americans centuries ago, as well as ceremonial masks and abuffal headdress.
An undercover investigation intothe ring’s activitiese has been going on for two and included agents from the Interior Department’s (BLM) and FBI as well as U.S. marshals. “Let this case serve notice to anyone who is considering breaking thesw laws and tramplingour nation’x cultural heritage that the BLM, the Departmen t of Justice and the [rest of] the federal governmenr will track you down and bring you to justice,” Interior Secretaruy Ken Salazar said in a statement. The federalo Archaeological Resources Protection Act makes it illegal to excavat e archaeological siteswithout authorization, and take artifacts from federaol land for sale or exchange.
Once the artifacts’ triba affiliations have been identified, they will be returner to those tribes, as required by the Native Americamn Graves Protection andRepatriation Act. Items not coverede by the tribal repatriation law will be made available for scientific research andpublic education. The Four Corner region includes partsof Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, and occupies Natived American land. Colorado’s corner is part of this state’sz Ute Mountain Ute reservation, and the othefr states’ corners are part of the Navajoi Nation. Indicted defendants were to appear beforwa U.S. magistrate in Moab, Utah, on Wednesday.