A dastardly mummy smuggler was busted in Brooklyn today! The Ancient Egypt-loving "antiques dealer" was caught allegedly trying to illegally ship mummy-related objects into the city from Dubai and...Michigan, of all places.
Mousa "Morris" Khouli, owner of Windsor Antiques in Manhattan, apparently worked with dealers in West Bloomfield, Michigan and the United Arab Emirates to smuggle "a Greco-Roman sarcophagus, Egyptian funerary boats and limestone figures" for a collector named Jospeh Lewis. He labeled the shipments "antiques" and "wood panels" in an effort to dupe Customs officials, which isn't technically untrue, though it's not exactly full disclosure. Customs officials seized the times from Lewis's house earlier this month; they also found a sarcophagus in Khouli's Brooklyn home, which he falsely claimed was part of his father's collection, though it turned out to actually be purchased in Ramadan in 2009. Whoops!
"Antiquities dealers and collectors are on notice that the smuggling of cultural patrimony will not be tolerated," said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch. Khouli and Lewis pleaded not guilty today and were released on $250,000 bail. Perhaps they should have just trawled the basements of Staten Island instead?
