Press Release
☷FBI Boston Recovers and Returns 22 Historic Artifacts to Japan
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( By Press Release office)
Mar 17,2024
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Yo , so check it out . We got this FBI dude , Geoffrey Kelly , who ' s part of the FBI Art Crime Team . He ' s talking about how the FBI helped find and give back 22 artifacts that were stolen from Okinawa after World War II . These things had been missing for like 80 freakin ' years , man . The FBI Boston Division did their thing and recovered these historic artifacts , dating all the way back to the 18th and 19th centuries . We ' re talkin ' portraits , a hand - drawn map , and some pottery and ceramics . Pretty cool , huh? The Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education had actually registered some of these things with the FBI ' s database of stolen art , so big ups to them for keeping track . Shout out to this family in Massachusetts who found these artifacts and did the right thing by turning them over to the FBI . They ' re gonna have a formal ceremony in Japan to give these things back . It ' s a real feel - good story , man . Geoffrey Kelly , the FBI dude , even said it was an exciting moment when they authenticated the artworks . Just imagine witnessing history like that , man . These artifacts are really important to Japan ' s identity , especially the portraits of Okinawan kings from the 18th and 19th centuries . This case shows the type of work we do on the Art Crime Team - it ' s not just about putting people in jail . We focus on getting stolen property back to its rightful owners , even if it ' s been generations . The artifacts are being sent back to Okinawa Prefecture in March 2024 with the help of the National Museum of Asian Art , the FBI , and other U . S . government agencies . Governor Denny Tamaki of Okinawa expressed gratitude for the return of the artifacts . FBI Boston Special Agent Geoffrey Kelly discusses the case in an interview , and you can see photos of the recovered artifacts . It ' s a great feeling for the FBI to reunite these cultural treasures with their rightful owners after almost 80 years .
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