Colombian Authorities: Return Of Artifacts From Spain 'Priceless'

Hundreds of cultural artifacts dating back thousands of years have been returned to Colombia from Spain after they were kept in Madrid's Museum of the Americas for over a decade.

The artifacts number 619 and include various items representative of the Colombian culture, including funeral urns, musical instruments, and small carvings of ancient people indigenous to Colombia.

The small cultural treasures had been seized by Spanish authorities over a decade ago after they had been used to smuggle drugs out of the South American country. Spain kept the artifacts at its Madrid museum for over a decade before returning them to the Colombian government.

The artifacts reportedly date back to before the 16th Century, before Spanish explorers arrived in Colombia.

According to Colombia Reports, the South American country had won an arduous legal battle that prevented the artifacts, which number in the tons, from staying in Spain indefinitely. Attorneys for Colombia argued that the artifacts represented "priceless national patrimony."

"Recovering for our nation these 691 archaeological treasures has a value that is really difficult to put any price on. They are from many of our (indigenous) cultures, and getting them home took years," Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín said at a press conference Tuesday while she showed 50 of the valuable pieces to reporters.

Fabián Sanabria, a professor at the National University of Colombia, told El Pais newspaper that the objects' return was "a triumph against the illegal traffic of cultural artifacts the likes of which has never been seen before."

"This collection of pieces is the largest that has been recuperated in the last few decades. Never before has a whole museum been repatriated," Sanabria added.