Viking statue seized from man traveling from Bodrum to Istanbul

AYDIN – Doğan News Agency

Gendarmerie forces on Dec. 14 seized a historic Viking statue from a man traveling on a bus on the Söke-Milas highway in western Turkey.

The gendarmerie officers stopped the bus at the Söke district of the Aegean province of Aydın at around 2.30 p.m. local time and found the suspect carrying a box containing the Viking-era statue.

Söke gendarmerie officers detained the person on allegations of trying to smuggle the historical artifact to Istanbul, seizing the statue in order to hand it to the relevant authorities.

The bus is reported to have been traveling from the holiday resort of Bodrum in southwestern Turkey to Istanbul.

An investigation has been launched into the incident.