A Florida shipment declared as two terracotta pieces worth under $200 contained ancient Iraqi tablets valued above $15,000; a wider investigation has now forced the buyer to surrender artefacts and $75,000

A shipment arriving in Florida from the United Arab Emirates was declared to contain two terracotta objects worth less than $200. But when US Customs and Border Protection officers inspected the package, they discovered two ancient Iraqi clay tablets dating back nearly 4,000 to 5,000 years and valued at more than $15,000 combined. The discovery triggered a wider investigation into suspicious antiquities shipments linked to Matthew Weinberg of Miramar Beach, Florida. According to a November 9 announcement by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Weinberg has now forfeited multiple foreign antiquities and $75,000 to the federal government.The investigation began in July 2025, when agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were alerted by the Customs and Border Protection office in Pensacola about a shipment arriving at Pensacola International Airport from the UAE. The package was destined for Weinberg, and its shipping manifest described its contents as two terracotta objects valued at less than $200.However, an appraisal conducted after the shipment was detained identified the objects as cuneiform tablets originating from the region of modern-day Iraq. The tablets date to between 3000 BC and 2000 BC and were valued at more than $15,000 in total, according to prosecutors. Cuneiform is among the world’s earliest known writing systems. Developed in ancient Mesopotamia, it involved pressing wedge-shaped marks into soft clay using a reed stylus. The writing system was used for recording everything from trade transactions and administrative records to literature, religious texts and royal accounts. The tablets offer a glimpse into civilisations that existed thousands of years ago in the region encompassing present-day Iraq.

Investigation uncovers shipments from multiple countries

What initially appeared to be a single suspicious consignment led investigators to examine other international shipments linked to Weinberg. Federal authorities found that he had also obtained antiquities from Iran, Egypt and Cyprus, with their customs declarations similarly listing values significantly lower than the actual worth of the objects. These shipments included bronze figures, ceramic architectural models and terracotta idols. According to the DOJ, the imports violated restrictions that the United States had agreed upon with Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus and other countries to prevent the unauthorised movement of cultural property.The investigation subsequently expanded to Weinberg’s residence in Miramar Beach. In March 2026, federal agents executed a search and seizure warrant at his home, recovering several additional objects, including ancient Hebrew Torah scrolls, scroll artwork originating from China and Egyptian antiquities dating to approximately 712 BC to 525 BC.A report by The Jewish Chronicle citing court filings and an affidavit, provided further details about the scale of the investigation. It reported that investigators identified approximately 117 international shipments associated with Weinberg’s purchases between September 2024 and March 2026. Around 109 of these reportedly reached their destinations without being intercepted. The report also described a shipment containing a medieval Persian ceramic architectural model, which investigators believed Weinberg had purchased through eBay for approximately $2,000. Its declared shipping value was reportedly just $250.Investigators also reportedly discovered WhatsApp conversations between Weinberg and a vendor discussing ways to conceal the identities and values of antiquities to avoid customs detection. According to the report, searches on his phone also included queries about US laws governing the importation of Egyptian and Iraqi artefacts.Among the objects identified in the reported affidavit were a bronze figure depicting the Egyptian goddess Isis nursing Horus, an Iranian stone plaque featuring a scorpion and a terracotta female idol from Cyprus dating to approximately 1450 BC to 1200 BC.

$75,000 forfeited, artefacts to be returned

Following the investigation, Weinberg forfeited the seized antiquities to the United States for repatriation to their countries of origin. He also surrendered $75,000 in US currency, which prosecutors identified as proceeds of violations of federal anti-smuggling statutes. The federal government has additionally barred him from purchasing or selling any foreign antiquities or artefacts for two years.US Attorney for the Northern District of Florida John P. Heekin said the recovered objects would be returned to their rightful owners and thanked federal law enforcement agencies for investigating violations of anti-smuggling laws.United States has entered into cultural property agreements with several countries to restrict the importation of certain archaeological and ethnological materials without appropriate documentation. These measures are intended to prevent objects from being removed from their countries of origin through unauthorised excavation, theft or trafficking.A previous high-profile case involved US retailer Hobby Lobby, which agreed in 2017 to forfeit thousands of ancient Iraqi artefacts that had been imported using misleading customs declarations. The objects included approximately 450 cuneiform tablets and 3,000 clay bullae. In 2018, the company agreed to pay $3 million as part of the settlement.