U.S Returns Thousands of Artifacts to Mexico

The United States has returned more than 4,000 artifacts to Mexico, some more than 1,500 years old, that were brought across the border illegally, U.S. customs officials said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that the artifacts had been seized at the border and inside the United States in more than a dozen operations in recent years.

The artifacts include five pre-Columbian statues, 26 ceramic fragments dating back 1,500 years, and an Aztec whistle.

"The plundering of cultural property is one of the oldest forms of organized cross-border crime and has become a worldwide phenomenon that transcends frontiers," said U.S. customs official Janice Ayala.

She said the recovery of the artifacts was made possible by the "teamwork and cooperation" that exists between law enforcement authorities on both sides of the border.

The artifacts were handed over in a ceremony at the Mexican consulate in the border town of El Paso, Texas.