“We have recovered some museum pieces which arrived from Spain in order to secure our country´s patrimonial values. These are 691 archaeological pieces with a great historic value. The Attorney General´s Office is proud to have been part of this process” said the Interim Attorney General, Jorge Fernando Perdomo, during a ceremony to hand over these pre-Columbian art pieces coming from Spain.
The event which was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was attended by the Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín, Minister of Culture Mariana Garcés; the director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH- Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia), Fabian Sanabria, and the President of DHL Express Colombia, Jorge Lavignasse.
The archeological pieces will come back to Colombia after being seized in 2003 in Spain as part of the so callled operation Florencia conducted by the European country and Colombia in the fight against money laundering and drug trafficking.
In 2005, the Attorney General´s Office signed an administrative agreement with other entities in order to fight against illicit trafficking in cultural properties such as the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police, among others. An agreement by which, significant cases have been handled to ensure the protection of Colombian cultural heritage and which are investigated by the Directorate of National Prosecutor´s Offices.