6th-century Visigothic gold crown looted with metal detectors found in León

According to police sources, this criminal group looted several warehouses in León and Valladolid with metal detectors. They had a very sophisticated detector, which made it possible to reach great depths on the ground. They then resold the parts on buying and selling platforms or at home.

The investigation began almost a year ago, last January, when officers detected that a man was discreetly proposing a numismatic event organized in Andalusia several gold, silver and gold coins from a unique Visigoth treasure, for which he asked a lot of money.

Investigations have led to the existence of a criminal group dedicated to the illegal sale of these objects of great historical value. The agents They identified the place where the Visigothic crown could have been looted, an archaeological site cataloged by the Junta in the province of Valladolid.. Apparently, the inmates used sophisticated tools, such as a metal detector capable of reaching extreme depths using multiple frequencies, as well as other more rudimentary tools such as shovels and picks to extract archaeological objects.

Those arrested are also linked to looting of a site in the province of León, from where they extracted thousands of silver coins and also valuable gold coins from the Roman era.

Online and home sales

After cleaning and cataloging the pieces they have extracted, they put them up for sale on buying and selling platforms or in private groups on social networks. The National Police indicates that up to They even sold them at the home of one of the group members.where buyers came from other regions of Spain.

The researchers verified that the members of the group They were organized and knew the sites perfectly. Additionally, they were looking for the safest means of access to avoid detection. They hid the vehicles at a distance and went to the scene on foot to make any police investigation difficult. In some cases, one of the detainees drove the car to the site, leaving the other members of the group behind to pick them up later once they announced they were finished.

Once all the members of this criminal network were identified, nine simultaneous entries and searches were carried out in the province of León on December 2, in which part of a gold Visigothic crown, approximately 6,000 silver coins -Denarii and Antoninians-, 21 gold and about 1,000 other archaeological objects, mostly coins from different eras and materials – fibulae, spearheads, rings, ceramic pieces. The researchers estimate that With its sale, they would have obtained more than a million euros of profit.

Electronic devices, various documentation, nine metal detectorsthree high-end vehicles and almost 50,000 euros.

The recovered objects will be deposited at the Museum of the Junta de Castilla y León as determined.