[meteorite-list] Woman Caught Smuggling Sikhote-Alin Meteorite from Russia

[Ron Baalke]

Meteorite smuggling 
Pravda
May 22, 2004

A woman attempted to transport a heavy-weight meteorite from Russia 
to Japan Customs officers discovered an iron meteorite weighing 1kg 
among personal belongings of a woman from a Russian city of 
Khabarovsk who was on her way to visit Japan.

According to the information provided by customs services of the 
Far East, officers managed to detect the celestial rock by means 
of special scanner at the Khabarovsk airport.

Staff of the local department of preservation of cultural artifacts 
confirmed the fact that the find was precisely meteorite. They also 
provided an estimate-43 000 rubles. Specialists also labeled the 
meteorite as "national property of the government."

Today, the woman faces criminal charges for attempting to secretly 
transport the piece abroad.

Khabarovsk customs officers encountered such case for the first time. 
Their colleagues from the Coastal region deal with such smuggling of 
meteorites more often since it was in that region that the so-called 
"Sitohe-Alinsky" meteorite had crashed in the region more than 50 
years ago. Its pieces can still be found in Ussuriiskaya taiga.