Chinese police have arrested 175 “tomb raiders” who stole ancient artifacts from a Neolithic site in the country’s northeast, state media reported.
Authorities have recovered 1,168 cultural relics worth more than 500 million yuan ($80 million) from the alleged looters and are describing the case as the biggest of its kind in more than 65 years, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported late Tuesday.
The suspected tomb raiders are accused of causing serious damage through illegal excavations at Niuheliang, a Neolithic site in Liaoning province, Xinhua reported, citing the Ministry of Public Security.
More than 1,000 police officers took part in the operation to catch the suspects, who belonged to 10 different gangs, the news agency said.
Among the relics retrieved by police is a coiled jade dragon, which Xinhua described as one of the earliest known representations of the venerated Chinese cultural symbol.
