Precious Buddha statues being smuggled from Pak to China seized: police

Precious artifacts worth millions of rupees, including statues of Buddha and Kanishka periods, have been seized by Pakistani police in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province while they were being smuggled to China, officials said on Wednesday.

Taj Muhammad Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, said that during checking, precious ancient-era artifacts including statues and sculptures of Gautam Buddh era, worth millions of rupees were recovered.

The statues were being smuggled out to China in a truck.The truck was intercepted by the local police at a check post in Charsadda District of the province, Khan said.

The seized antiques were recovered from secret cavities of a truck and stated to be 2000 years old. The truck driver and smuggler both were arrested, police said.

In 2018, Italian archeologists restored a statue of the Buddha in Pakistan's Swat Valley. It is believed to be the second tallest statue in the region, Dawn News reported.