{"id":63895,"date":"2026-02-05T15:55:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/russia-says-2-8-ton-chunk-of-aletai-meteorite-disguised-as-garden-ornament-found-being-smuggled-to-u-k\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:55:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:55:55","slug":"russia-says-2-8-ton-chunk-of-aletai-meteorite-disguised-as-garden-ornament-found-being-smuggled-to-u-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/russia-says-2-8-ton-chunk-of-aletai-meteorite-disguised-as-garden-ornament-found-being-smuggled-to-u-k\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia says 2.8-ton chunk of Aletai meteorite disguised as garden ornament found being smuggled to U.K."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-0\">\n  <!-- lil observer --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body\">\n<p><em>Moscow<\/em> \u2014 Russian investigators have prevented a giant meteorite fragment being smuggled to Britain disguised as a garden ornament, the Federal Customs Service reported Thursday.<\/p>\n<p> The huge specimen weighing about 2.8 tons is believed to have come from the Aletai meteorite, one of the largest known iron meteorites on Earth, it said.<\/p>\n<p> Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p> &#8220;The strategically important cargo was discovered during checks on a sea container at the port of Saint Petersburg,&#8221; the customs service said in a statement.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/02\/05\/83f324c1-3c95-49dd-8feb-4af2f5291b3f\/thumbnail\/620x362g2\/0d878e7e9e2ffcd05c3fe69f21902dfb\/russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling2.jpg#\" alt=\"russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling2.jpg \" height=\"362\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/02\/05\/83f324c1-3c95-49dd-8feb-4af2f5291b3f\/thumbnail\/620x362g2\/0d878e7e9e2ffcd05c3fe69f21902dfb\/russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling2.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/02\/05\/83f324c1-3c95-49dd-8feb-4af2f5291b3f\/thumbnail\/1240x724g2\/f786b9a3e2bd45ca0ac949fd156a17e7\/russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling2.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">An image from video shared by the Russian Federal Customs Service and Russia&#8217;s state-run TASS news agency shows an official inspecting what the customs agency said was a 2.8-ton chunk of the Aletai meteorite intercepted at the port in Saint Petersburg, on Feb. 5, 2026, as it was set to be smuggled out of the country to the U.K. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Russian Federal Customs Service\/TASS<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;When attempting to export it, it was declared as a garden sculpture. But a detailed inspection revealed that the origin and value of the cargo differed from the information declared,&#8221; it added.<\/p>\n<p> Video showed customs officers prying open a crate to find the rock, its surface grey and rugged.<\/p>\n<p> The fragment could be worth approximately 323 million rubles ($4.2 million), the statement said.<\/p>\n<p> The statement did not say who attempted to import the fragment, only that it was destined for the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/02\/05\/ad9d9e58-f704-4d22-b9b7-2d33b05c4ea0\/thumbnail\/620x389\/a5c7b478dbf68a0263cd83e2ded65021\/russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling.jpg#\" alt=\"russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling.jpg \" height=\"389\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/02\/05\/ad9d9e58-f704-4d22-b9b7-2d33b05c4ea0\/thumbnail\/620x389\/a5c7b478dbf68a0263cd83e2ded65021\/russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/02\/05\/ad9d9e58-f704-4d22-b9b7-2d33b05c4ea0\/thumbnail\/1240x778\/73768cd0978d033291aec136d52a9f68\/russia-altai-meteorite-smuggling.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">An image from video shared by the Russian Federal Customs Service and Russia&#8217;s state-run TASS news agency shows an official inspecting what the customs agency said was a 2.8-ton chunk of the Aletai meteorite intercepted at the port in Saint Petersburg, on Feb. 5, 2026, as it was set to be smuggled out of the country to the U.K.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Russian Federal Customs Service\/TASS<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Scientists have expressed ethical concerns about the sale of meteorites, which are often coveted for research purposes and hold important clues about the make-up of the early solar system.<\/p>\n<p> The Aletai meteorite was discovered in western China in 1898 and is thought to be at least 4.5 billion years old. It is unclear when the meteorite slammed into the Earth&#8217;s surface, but such landings do occur from time to time.<\/p>\n<p>The Aletai meteorite is of a similar age to one\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/meteorite-georgia-nasa-earth\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Athat ripped through the roof of a home<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in the U.S. state of Georgia last year. That was seen as a fireball blazing across the sky in broad daylight by dozens of witnesses.<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n        <\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/russia-aletai-meteorite-smuggling-uk-disguised-garden-ornament-shipping-container\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moscow \u2014 Russian investigators have prevented a giant meteorite fragment being smuggled to Britain disguised as a garden ornament, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[7807,852,1146,832],"class_list":["post-63895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-meteor","tag-russia","tag-smuggling","tag-space"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Russia says 2.8-ton chunk of Aletai meteorite disguised as garden ornament 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