An 82-year-old Lebanese man, Georges Lotfi, is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol for alleged trafficking of stolen antiquities. This comes weeks after he was questioned in Lebanon regarding the same accusations. The Interpol Red Notice, issued 10 months after a New York court issued its own warrant, alleges Lotfi is involved in the criminal possession of stolen artifacts. The notice requests law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally detain Lotfi, though it doesn't compel Lebanon to arrest him.

Lebanese officials, speaking anonymously, confirmed receiving the U.S. case details and stated that Lotfi, during prior questioning, denied stealing the antiquities. He claimed to have purchased them from archaeologists and subsequently sold them to a U.S. museum. Investigations revealed that the 27 artifacts in question were stolen from a Lebanese warehouse in 1981. The Interpol notice specifically charges Lotfi with various degrees of criminal possession of stolen property.

U.S. authorities have expressed their willingness to return the antiquities to Lebanon, contingent upon Lotfi's arrest. Upon formally receiving the Interpol warrant, Lebanese authorities are expected to question Lotfi and confiscate his passport. This isn't an isolated incident; the illicit trade and looting of antiquities were rampant during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. In a similar case in 2018, Lebanon recovered three looted artifacts – a marble bull's head from 360 B.C. and two marble torsos from the 4th and 6th centuries B.C. – that had been recovered by New York authorities.