Egyptian doctor Ashraf Omar Eldarir has been sentenced to six months in prison by U.S. District Judge Rachel P. Kovner for smuggling hundreds of ancient Egyptian artifacts into the United States. Eldarir was arrested in 2019 after importing over 600 artifacts without declaring them on customs forms, including a polychrome relief, Roman limestone pieces, gold amulets, and wooden tomb model figures dating to 1900 BCE. The largest seizure of smuggled antiquities at JFK Airport occurred in January 2020, when customs officers found 590 artifacts wrapped in bubble wrap and foam, with loose sand and dirt indicating recent excavation. Eldarir pleaded guilty to four counts of smuggling and used fake provenances—including forged documents and photoshopped photographs—to sell artifacts at U.S. auction houses.
This case underscores the ongoing crisis of looting and illicit trafficking of cultural heritage, particularly from Egypt, and the role of U.S. ports as entry points for stolen antiquities. The sentence sends a strong signal that smuggling cultural treasures carries serious legal consequences, and the U.S. Attorney's office has committed to repatriating the recovered artifacts to Egypt. It also highlights the sophisticated forgery methods traffickers use to deceive auction houses and customs officials, raising questions about due diligence in the art market.