18JUN2018 /23:26 UTC-07 Tango 06 (29 Khordad 1397/05 Shawwal 1439/06 Wu-Wu 4716)
“Such efforts are to be noted, not only do they enforce the law they serve as a sense of historic justice, and they help in the fight against criminal and terrorist networks.“-Fareed Yasseen, Iraqi Ambassador to the United States
Not even a year after first getting into trouble, the co-owners of Hobby Lobby/Museum of the Bible are in trouble again.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is returning more than 3-thousand smuggled Sumerian/Babylonian/Ancient Iranian (primarily from the Ur III and Old Babylonian period, 2100-1600 BCE) artifacts to Iraq. The tablets and cylinders were illegally acquired by the ‘christian’ owned Hobby Lobby for its new Bible Museum in Washington DC.
On 02MAY2018 the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. signed documents with ICE for the return of archaeological items, bought by Hobby Lobby which inadvertently(?) provided $1.6-million USD of funding for Islamic extremists.
The ‘christians’ who run Hobby Lobby tried to smuggle in the artifacts by labeling the boxes as Tile Samples. The criminal act was discovered by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents, in conjunction with Assistant U.S. Attorneys at United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, investigating funding ops for DAIISH (Islamic State). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted the smuggled items.
Hobby Lobby must now pay a $3-million fine, plus other punitive actions. This isn’t the first time ICE returned stolen artifacts to Iraq.
Smithsonian: Hobby Lobby’s Smuggled Artifacts May Come From Lost Sumerian City
Live Science: Lost City of Irisagrig Comes to Life in Ancient Stolen Tablets