FBI Returns Stolen Crocodile Fossil to Morocco in Cultural Heritage Repatriation

The restitution ceremony took place this week at the Rabat Zoological Park. This operation is part of the implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on measures to be taken to prohibit and prevent the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, says a statement from the embassy.

According to the note, the FBI found the fossil as well as 7,000 other cultural relics on the farm of a man named Don Miller in 2014, and since then, the American teams have been trying to identify these objects in order to return them to their original owners.

"The return of the fossil shows the commitment of the United States to prevent the trafficking and smuggling of objects that have significant meaning for the history and cultural heritage of Morocco," the embassy said.

For the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mehdi Bensaid, who chaired the ceremony, this return is of historical and scientific importance, particularly for researchers in the fields of specialization, as it provides information related to the ecosystem of that historical period.

In addition, other artifacts were presented at this ceremony, seized on French territory between 2005 and 2006 and returned to Morocco in January 2021, thanks to the cooperation between the kingdom and France.