The 1600-year-old gold jewelry was found inside a dry bean.

During the operations carried out by the Denizli Provincial Gendarmerie Command teams to prevent the crime of violating the Law on the Protection of Cultural Assets No. 2863, information was obtained that 4 suspects residing in the Honaz district were looking for customers to sell the historical artifacts they possessed.

In order to capture the suspects, the teams of the Denizli Gendarmerie Command's Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Branch took action and began to track two separate vehicles used by the suspects.

A HISTORICAL ARTIFACT WAS FOUND IN A PACKAGE OF DRIED BEANS

The vehicles used in the crime of historical artifact smuggling were stopped during an operation organized at the entrance of the Honaz district. As a result of the search conducted in the vehicles, 4 gold earrings in 2 pairs, dating back to the 4th century BC and belonging to the Lydian period, along with 1 gold hairpin and 1 gold pendant, were seized hidden in a bag concealed within a package of dried beans. While the historical artifacts seized during the operation were placed under protection, the 4 suspects taken into custody were referred to judicial authorities after their interrogation at the gendarmerie. While 2 of the suspects were arrested and delivered to prison, a judicial control order was issued for the other two individuals. The seized historical artifacts were handed over to the Denizli Museum Directorate.