CAIRO: Egyptian police have broken up a trafficking ring that was trying to sell stolen and highly valued ancient busts of pharaohs and mythical figures at an undercut rate of two million dollars, a security source said on Sunday.
The five-person ring included a former employee of the Superior Council for Egyptian Antiquities and acquired the busts, valued at 10 million dollars, through illegal excavations, the source said.
The ring was cracked after a policeman posing as an intermediary for an Arab buyer made contact with its members, who were subsequently arrested in a Cairo suburb.
The busts include the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, the falcon-headed god Horus and the goddess Sekhmet, among others.
