Traffickers now history

POLICE in four countries yesterday seized 25,000 Greek and Roman archaeological items worth more than $63 million in pre-dawn raids, cracking down on illegal trafficking in cultural goods.

About 250 officers in Italy, Spain, Britain and Germany simultaneously swooped on 40 houses — the culmination of a four-year investigation led by the Italians.

In the Sicilian Caltanissetta area “which is rich in archaeological sites from the Greek and Roman epochs, local members of the organised crime group illegally excavated artefacts,” police said.