Chinese tomb raiders dug underground tunnels to steal priceless objects from 3,000-year-old Yin Xu royal site
Around 140 people arrested after crime syndicate that burrowed into graves to steal ancient bronzes at Unesco World Heritage Site in Henan was broken up by police
A crime syndicate that tunnelled into 3,000-year-old royal tombs in central China and stole hundreds of priceless artefacts has been broken up by police, according to local media reports.
Local police said they had recovered around 700 artefacts that had been stolen from the royal tombs at the ruins of Yin Xu, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Henan province, officers told a press conference on Monday.
A total of 140 people, have been detained on suspicion of stealing, damaging and reselling cultural relics, police said.
The suspects include the members of 14 different gangs and a local party secretary.
It later emerged they had been caught after rare antiquities dating back to the era when Yin Xu was a royal capital were found on sale just a stone’s throw away from the archaeological site.
Police said the site and only been partially excavated by archaeologists and some parts had remained untouched for millennia.
