Case Review: United States v. Twenty-Nine Pre-Columbian and Colonial Artifacts, From Peru

By Chris Michaels

Miami has long operated as a market for stolen cultural objects. The high-profile case of Henri Matisse’s “Odalisque in Red Pants,” which was recovered in Miami in 2012, is a prime example of Miami being one of the top destinations for hot cultural objects. On 11 September 2014, an Order out of the Southern District of Florida addressed a Motion filed in U.S. v. Twenty-Nine Pre-Columbian and Colonial Artifacts From Peru, which shed more light on the illicit cultural heritage trade that pervades South Florida. The recent Order, issued by U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard, allowed the United States government to pursue a claim for the forfeiture of artifacts illegally exported from Peru.