NEW YORK—United States customs agents say they have intercepted two ancient Italian artifacts that had been illegally shipped out of Italy. The two works, vases dating back to around 350 B.C.E. and 460 B.C.E.,  have a combined estimated value of $120,000.

Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement worked with Italian authorities in the operation, which is part of a larger, joint investigation into what is believed to be a massive smuggling operation digging up Italian antiquities and funneling them out over Europe and into the United States.

The trail of evidence, officials say, points back to a collection of smuggled work assembled by Giacomo Medici in the mid-1990s. Authorities arrested Medici in 1997 and later sentenced him to eight years in prison for illegally shipping works out of Italy. His operation is believed to have introduced thousands of ancient works into the world market.

Read more at ArtDaily.