Cambodia welcomes back dozens of artefacts looted by UK trafficker

Cambodian monks chanted blessings and scattered flowers Friday over 74 cultural artefacts returned to the country after being plundered by a notorious British antiques smuggler. Scholar Douglas Latchford -- once regarded as a key authority on Cambodian antiquities -- was charged by prosecutors in New York in 2019 with smuggling looted Cambodian relics to sell on the international black market.

Cambodia's culture ministry said the repatriation from Britain of the relics, some dating back more than around 1,000 years, was sealed in a deal with the estate of Latchford -- who died in Bangkok in 2020.