November 27, 2015
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentine police seized 2.5 tons of bagged meteorite pieces from a house, police said Thursday, suspecting the potentially hugely lucrative consignment was bound for Europe.
The meteorite pieces, which are protected by Argentine law, were arranged in bags throughout the house in the northern province of Santiago del Estero.
In Europe, about 20 kilos of meteorite sells for up to $5,000 to collectors, researchers say.
The owners of the house are a couple who sell furniture, but it was not immediately clear if they had been arrested.
The site of the discovery is close to an area known as Campo del Cielo, in the neighboring province of Chaco, where about 4,000 years ago there was a meteor shower.
Thefts there by scavengers are common.
"People come there at night, working with shovels and metal detectors," Alberto Korovaichuk, mayor of the town of nearby Gancedo, told media.
Police in May seized 1.5 tons of meteorites in a routine check on a truck on a road in Chaco.
