[meteorite-list] Woman Caught Smuggling Sikhote-Alin Meteorite from Russia

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon May 24 14:16:08 2004
Message-ID: <200405241816.LAA17211_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Meteorite smuggling
Pravda
May 22, 2004

A woman attempted to transport a heavy-weight meteorite from Russia
to Japan Customs officers discovered an iron meteorite weighing 1kg
among personal belongings of a woman from a Russian city of
Khabarovsk who was on her way to visit Japan.

According to the information provided by customs services of the
Far East, officers managed to detect the celestial rock by means
of special scanner at the Khabarovsk airport.

Staff of the local department of preservation of cultural artifacts
confirmed the fact that the find was precisely meteorite. They also
provided an estimate-43 000 rubles. Specialists also labeled the
meteorite as "national property of the government."

Today, the woman faces criminal charges for attempting to secretly
transport the piece abroad.

Khabarovsk customs officers encountered such case for the first time.
Their colleagues from the Coastal region deal with such smuggling of
meteorites more often since it was in that region that the so-called
"Sitohe-Alinsky" meteorite had crashed in the region more than 50
years ago. Its pieces can still be found in Ussuriiskaya taiga.
Received on Mon 24 May 2004 02:15:55 PM PDT