Türkiye seizes 2,000-year-old statue's head in smuggling crackdown raid

STORY: Türkiye seizes 2,000-year-old statue's head in smuggling crackdown raid DATELINE: June 18, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:37 LOCATION: ISTANBUL, Türkiye CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. footage of anti-smuggling police seizing the head of a 2,000-year-old Hellenistic statue hidden in a dishwasher during an operation against antiquities smugglers in Izmir, Türkiye 2. various of the statue STORYLINE: Turkish police seized the head of a 2,000-year-old statue in the western city of Izmir as part of a crackdown on a ring of historical artifact smugglers, the state-run Anadolu agency reported Saturday. The police raided the house of a suspect believed to be involved in the smuggling of ancient treasures in the Karabaglar district of Izmir and found the head of the statue in a dishwasher. The head is believed to be part of a marble statue depicting a goddess or a noble dating back to the Hellenistic period. Legal procedures have been launched against the suspect who allegedly attempted to smuggle the artifact abroad.