Overview
- Mexico’s Foreign Ministry delivered 52 repatriated items to INAH after private holders in the United States voluntarily returned them.
- Individuals coordinated the handovers through the Mexican Embassy in Washington and the consulates in New York, Sacramento and San Francisco.
- INAH specialists determined through formal opinions that the objects belong to the national cultural patrimony under Mexican heritage law.
- The pieces show Mexica, Teotihuacan and Zapotec stylistic traits and date from roughly 500 BCE to 1521 CE, including figurines, ceramics and ritual elements.
- The handover occurred on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, and authorities reaffirmed continued interagency and international cooperation to curb illicit trafficking.