Authorities have recovered scores of priceless jade, gold and stone artifacts taken in the 1985 Chistmas Day robbery of the National Museum of Anthropology, the federal attorney general's office said.
Federal agents found 133 of the 140 stolen treasures from the ancient Mayan, Aztec, Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations in canvas sacks stashed in a home in suburban Mexico City, the daily Excelsior said.It said 10 people were arrested.
The story was confirmed Sunday by an agent at the attorney general's office. The agent, who requested anonymity, said experts were authenticating the artifacts prior to an official announcement.
The artifacts were recovered Saturday during a series of raids on several residences in Mexico City, Excelsior said. It said Deputy Attorney General Javier Coello Trejo, head of the narcotics enforcement division, led the raids.
Among the items recovered were a Zapotec mask of the bat god Murielago and an obsidian Aztec sculpture of a monkey. Experts have described them as two of the most valuable pieces in a museum crammed with irreplaceable objects from civilizations dating back thousands of years.
Excelsior said the suspects arrested Saturday include two brothers identified as the masterminds of the crime that stunned the nation and led to an international search for the treasures looted from seven display cases early Dec. 25, 1985.
Many of the artifacts came from such important archaeological sites as Palenque in southern Mexico and Chichen-Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Excelsior said authorities believe the loot has been in the same place, a house in an affluent neighborhood, since it was stolen.