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Alice Yan

The leader of a gang of tomb raiders in northern China has been jailed for life and prison terms handed out to 24 of his accomplices, according to a newspaper report.
The case was said to be the largest example of cultural plunder since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, state media reported.
The number of cultural relics and people involved in the thefts both set records, the China Daily reported, citing the court.
READ MORE: China’s ancient treasures under siege from army of tomb raiders
The gang leader, whose full name was not given, was jailed by a court in Chaoyang in Liaoning province, the Legal Daily said.
The man, 53, became expert over the years at spotting the location of ancient tombs and could tell where they were simply by studying the landscape, the report said.
He and four other main members of the gang were given life terms for taking items from the Hongshan relic site at the end of 2014.
The site dates back 5,000 years and about 1,200 artefacts were stolen, the report said. No value was given for the goods taken.
Twenty-five other gang members were jailed for between three to 15 years. the newspaper said.
The gang’s boss was said to be the main grave robber in the province and helped others identify the location of tombs.
He was not talkative, but loved reading books, particularly about archaeology, the article said.
“He’s good at finding where the [tomb] site is. He just uses astronomical knowledge, mountains’ shapes and maps to exactly make an identification,” one of his assistants was quoted as saying.
READ MORE: Chinese police arrest three suspected raiders of Song dynasty tomb
He always went alone to check out a site and never shared his experience or secrets in searching tombs with others, the report said.
But his Achilles’ heel was gambling and on many occasions he would pay in casinos with newly-found items from ancient tombs.
When he lost all his money, he would raid tombs again, the report said.


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China society

Chinese ‘tomb raider’ and gang jailed for plunder of ancient relics

No Caption Available.

The thieves pictured during their court appearance and one of the ancient artefacts plundered. Photo; SCMP Pictures

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