Italy seizes looted artifacts for sale on e-Bay

ROME — Italian police say they have seized more than 500 looted archaeological treasures that a man was trying to sell on e-Bay.

The Carabinieri police in Palermo, Sicily, said Wednesday that most of the artifacts were coins and jewelry made by various civilizations that dominated the island in antiquity: Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs.

The pieces came mostly from clandestine digs and the man who tried selling them is being investigated for trafficking in antiquities.

The Carabinieri statement says e-Bay has "fully cooperated" with authorities in tracking down the seller.

Art squad officials say traffickers are increasingly using the Internet to sell looted artifacts and experts routinely trawl Web sites for suspicious material.