New York Paralegal Blog

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - On Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) returned a collection of 67 into the United States from the Dominican Republic. The objects were discovered as part of several investigations by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and CBP - one in Jacksonville and Orlando, Fla. and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the other in Memphis, Tenn.

NEW YORK - Five decorative, hand-carved human skulls were turned over to Indonesian authorities Monday during a ceremony at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in New York, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The skulls are believed to date from the 18th and 19th centuries and are considered "headhunting" trophy skulls from the Dayak Tribe, whose members live on the Indonesian island of Borneo. Each skull is uniquely decorated and intricately carved. The skulls were encountered in August by officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a mail facility in Newark, N.J. They were shipped in a package from Bali, Indonesia, with a declared value of less than $5. New York HSI agents took possession of the skulls and began investigating the origin of the shipment. A local fine art specialist conducted an independent appraisal of the artifacts and determined that th...