Chicago Gallery Raided in Smuggling Probe

CHICAGO—The FBI's investigation into an alleged South Asian and Native American antiquities smuggling ring continued Thursday, when agents and U.S. postal inspectors raided an art gallery in Chicago's River North neighborhood, the Chicago Tribune reports. No arrests were made, but agents removed several dozen artworks from Kass/Meridian Gallery. The raids began in Southern California on January 24, when agents swarmed four museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a Los Angeles art gallery, following a five-year investigation that included an unnamed agent with the National Park Service going undercover as a novice collector. The investigation first hit Chicago January 29, with the investigation of Barry MacLean, the owner of a private museum and a trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Kass/Meridian was still closed as of Thursday afternoon.