Customs officers at the Röszke border crossing struck gold—literally—when they uncovered a trove of Byzantine, Greek, and Roman artefacts hidden inside a personal car driven by a Syrian-born German national. Among the haul were ancient coins, exquisite jewellery, and other relics, as announced by the National Tax and Customs Administration’s Csongrád-Csanád County office to MTI on Thursday.
During a routine check of the man’s luggage, the officers discovered a hefty stash of antiquities wrapped in black plastic sheeting. Beneath the car seats, more treasures lurked inside Coke bottles: coins, jewels, and everyday items from antiquity, the Hungarian News Agency wrote.
Factory compartments near the rear seats and boot yielded even more surprises (camouflaged under coats and bags), revealing two additional Coke bottles, also swathed in black foil and crammed with tiny objects from ancient and early medieval times.
Expert valuation pegged the worth of these presumed Near Eastern treasures at nearly HUF 60 million, but the driver couldn’t prove their origin or produce any transport permits.
Ancient and valuable coins, rings, earrings and other artefacts uncovered from the car of the Syrian-born German national. Photo: PrtScr/Facebook/National Tax and Customs Agency
He now faces a whopping 8 million forint fine from the customs team, with the artefacts seized and a criminal complaint filed for suspected budget fraud.
Click and check out the video of the arrest.
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