Antiquities Smugglers Busted in Bulgaria

19-member treasure hunt group busted in Bulgaria 20:26 Tue 05 Feb 2008 - Rene Beekman Bulgaria's anti-organised crime unit busted a 19-member group of treasure hunters on February 1, the Interior Ministry announced in a media statement on February 5. The group was involved in illegal archaeological excavations and selling cultural artifacts, mediapool.bg said. The operation took place in Rouse, Varna, Dobrich, Plovdiv and Bourgas. The three leaders of the group had been released on bail, the Interior Ministry said. The group had found a collection of more than 2800 coins, more than 790 archaeological artifacts, seven antique matrices for coinage, glassware, bronze and ceramics, mediapool.bg said. The artifacts were said to be intended to be sold abroad.