In the history of great museum robberies, the incident that occurred in Mexico City in the mid-1980s will forever be remembered. The theft, known in the country as the “robbery of the century”, not only seized a number of jewels and immeasurable national treasures, but also left its mark on the way valuable cultural heritage was secured until then. What happened changed the measures forever.

A visit in progress. Today we know that in 1985 a scene was repeated for at least six months. Every day, shortly after the doors of the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA) opened, two 21-year-old students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Carlos Perches Treviño and Ramón Sardina García, would appear and tour the entire museum. room.

Both were united by the same, almost unhealthy passion for archeology, but what Museum security failed to predict was that their visit had little to do with the treasures of the past stored there. The two teenagers visited the facility for six months to learn the routines of the guards and security at the centre, and when they thought they knew everything, they marked the date in red.

Prefaces. Choosing the early morning hours of December 25, 1985 to commit the crime was not trivial. Both students meticulously observed the staff’s routines and noticed decreased attention during the festivities. So Christmas had to be the perfect day.

As for their motivations, although neither of them had a criminal record, their fascination with archeology and pre-Hispanic art was growing to the point that they considered carrying out a plan as seemingly absurd as stealing one of the largest collections of archaeological artifacts. in Mexico.

Robbery. The two young men knew that security that night would be minimal, or at least lower than normal. At around 1:00 a.m., they entered the museum through ventilation ducts and escaped from security cameras and alarm systems. There was no security that day because they had gathered to celebrate the appointed date, which is normally done to patrol 26 rooms every two hours.

So, over the course of three hours, they went into various display cases and retrieved 124 archaeological artifacts, including artifacts from Mayan, Mixtec and Mexican cultures. The stolen objects included gold jewelry and unique items such as the Zapotec mask of the Bat God or a monkey-shaped obsidian vessel. To give us an idea, it is estimated that the value of some of these works reached 20 million dollars on the black market (1985), but as the museum announced hours later, the greatest damage was cultural and historical.

INAH bulletin will announce theft

Escape After the robbery, the students fled in an old Volkswagen and hid the parts at Perches’ parents’ house in Ciudad Satélite, in the metropolitan area of ​​Mexico City. This is one of the most notable points, because the stolen items were hidden in a suitcase and remained there for almost four years without the thieves even trying to sell them, fearing widespread media coverage and intense police investigation.

Investigation. The truth is that the theft caused a national and international scandal. Mexican authorities were forced to act quickly following criticism of clearly ineffective management. For this reason, they assigned more than 30 inspectors to solve the incident, scanned everywhere, and asked for international help…

But despite all efforts, the investigation did not make significant progress until 1989, almost four years after the robbery. It happened when drug trafficker Salvador Gutiérrez “El Cabo” was arrested in Guadalajara. Gutiérrez, who wanted to reduce his sentence, gave important information about Carlos Perches’ whereabouts and the loot.

Two of the recovered objects: Pakal funeral mask and Yanhuitlán chest mask

Connection. Perches apparently traveled to Acapulco in 1986, where he met then-drug trafficker José Serrano. The young man admitted that he was one of the authors of the “robbery of the century” and began to work with him in drug sales. Serrano then introduced him to another drug trafficker, Gutiérrez, who would offer them help in selling the archaeological pieces (their estimated value was around $1 billion).

As lawyer Javier Coello Trejo, then deputy attorney general for the Combatting Drug Trafficking, explained to Reforma, authorities installed wiretapping devices in prisons and monitored all conversations between Gutiérrez and Perches. In one conversation, they were apparently negotiating the sale of jewels of “Mexico’s greatest art”; This meant light at the end of the tunnel to finally find and capture Perches.

Detention and recovery. Police eventually recovered 111 of the 124 stolen items. The incident took place on June 10, 1989, following an operation in Ciudad Satélite. The pieces, including the famous Zapotec mask and obsidian bowl, were in excellent condition despite being wrapped in toilet paper and stored in a duffel bag at Perches’ parents’ home.

But despite the recovery, some pieces are still missing: probably seven pieces remained in Sardina’s possession. Rest? These had apparently been replaced by cocaine by Perches; This was a unique and unusual transaction for precious jewels of the past.

Results. Perches was arrested at age 24 and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Sardina is still missing. Perhaps more importantly, the theft exposed glaring security “gaps” in Mexican museums and led to the implementation of new measures, such as the installation of alarm systems, closed-circuit television, and increased security guards at cultural venues.

In short, a theft that reveals how vulnerable the cultural heritage in Mexico was until then.

Image | Hmaglione10, Public Domain, INAH

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