Smuggled dinosaur bones in U.S. returned to Mongolia

By Dan Rivoli

Special to amNewYork

The skeleton of a 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus came to the United States as smuggled contraband, but will be returning to its origins in Mongolia for its people to enjoy.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of Manhattan and Homeland Security officials Monday returned the dinosaur's nearly complete skeleton to Mongolia at a ceremony near the United Nations. The Tyrannosaurus bataar, a smaller cousin to North America's T-Rex, was illegally looted from the Gobi Desert from 1995 to 2005, then shipped out of Mongolia illegally between 2005 and 2012, according to officials.

Mongolian officials contact the U.S. attorney's office to halt the sale of the fossils, which drew a $1.05 million bid at a Manhattan auction house last May. The skeleton was forfeited to U.S. officials.

"That attempted sale was part of a criminal scheme," Bharara said. "A million-dollar price tag, as high as it is, doesn't begin to describe the true value of an ancient artifact that is part of the fabric of a country's natural history and cultural heritage-priceless."

Homeland Security investigators in October arrested Eric Prokopi, 38, of Gainesville, Fla., who imported the bataar skeleton, as well as other fossils. Prokopi pleaded guilty Dec. 27.

The Mongolian minister of culture, sport and tourism, Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, said the more than 20-foot-long and eight-foot high Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton will be put on display for citizens and tourists to enjoy.

"We never had dinosaur museums before," she said. "T. bataar is going to be the first item, the first exhibit in the museum."