Dakar, Senegal-is the largest piece of Mars that has been found on Earth, a 54-pound meteorite (25 kilograms) that obtained more than $ 5 million in a New York auction last month, establishing a world record.
But in the nation of Western Africa of Niger, where the rusty red rock was unearthed in the Sahara desert, officials have initiated an investigation into what they call possible “illicit international traffic”, claiming that it may have been smuggled outside the country.
This is what you should know about the meteorite and the legal dispute:
As found
Sotheby’s said the rock, called NWA 16788, was expelled from the surface of Mars for a massive asteroid attack and traveled 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to the earth.
It was discovered in the Sahara in the northwest of Niger by a meteorit hunter in November 2023, according to the auction house. His identity was not revealed. Nor was the buyer’s identity last month.
Meteorite hunting is growing in Saharan arid countries such as Niger. Although meteorites can fall anywhere on Earth, Sahara has become a main place for discovery in part due to the favorable climate for their preservation.
Hunters often look for space rocks that can be sold to collectors or scientists. The rarest and most precious are from Mars and the Moon.
According to Heritage Academic Journal, The Rock was sold to an international concessionaire before he ended up in a private galley in Italy. A team of scientists from the University of Florence examined the rock last year to learn more about its structure and where it came before falling to Earth, the publication said.
The meteorite was also briefly exhibited in Rome before it was seen in public in New York last month during the auction.
Why Niger is investigating
After the sale, Niger raised questions about how the meteorite was sold at the auction.
The Niger government announced an investigation last month to determine the circumstances of the discovery and the sale of the meteorite, saying in a statement that was “similar to Illicit International Traffic.”
Last week, President Abdourahamane Tiani suspended the export of “precious stones, semi -precious stones and meteorites throughout the country” in an effort to guarantee their traceability.
Sotheby’s said in a statement sent to Associated Press, the meteorite was exported from Niger and transported in line with all relevant international procedures.
“As with everything we sell, all the necessary documentation was in order at each stage of its trip, according to the best practices and requirements of the countries involved.” The declaration read.
The authorities in Niger did not answer the AP questions.
What international law says
Patty Gerstenblith, lawyer for the cultural heritage and expert in illicit trade, said that under the Unesco convention on cultural property, which Niger and the United States have ratified, rare minerals, such as meteorites, can qualify as cultural property.
However, Gerstenblith said that Niger needs to be able to prove that he owned the meteorite and that it was stolen, since the illegal export of the country does not make the meteorite illegal in the United States
“If the meteorite was not stolen and if it declared properly when importing the US.
Paul serene, a paleontologist who has spent years discovering dinosaurs fossils in the Sahara de Niger, is campaigning to return the country’s cultural and natural heritage, including meteorites.
“When you have laws that clearly say that rare minerals such as meteorites are cultural artifacts, you cannot simply take something that is so unique and valuable for a country,” he told the AP.
“We are no longer in the colonial area,” he added.
Some countries, such as Morocco, one of the main sources of meteorites in the international market, require restitution if objects are discovered in their territory. But the application has been a challenge due to the vast areas of the desert and informal commercial networks.
