Egyptian authorities arrested a Jordanian truck driver as he attempted to smuggle 107 Pharaonic and Islamic artifacts from Nuweiba into Jordan at dawn Thursday.
The suspect had 40 metal statuettes, 52 amulets, five wooden masks and other artifacts including a copper vase and four metal shields. Security forces found the artifacts in a number of cartons and rolls in the truck as they inspected it at the Nuweiba port on the Red Sea, according to a security official.
Director General of Nuweiba’s Antiquities Department Abdel Rehim Rayhan said in statements to state-run news agency MENA that the seized items are subject to antiquities protection laws. He added that security forces also found 17 silver and gold pieces that are not antiquities and do not fall under the laws.
