During a customs inspection at the seaport of St. Petersburg, a large fragment of a meteorite weighing 2.5 tons was discovered. According to customs officials, the object was being illegally exported abroad, declared as a “landscape design sculpture.”
This is reported by Finway
Value and Characteristics of the Cargo
During the scanning of the sea container, officials confirmed that it was a fragment of the Aletai meteorite. According to the accompanying documents, this object was supposed to cross the border disguised as a sculpture. Experts estimated the value of the meteorite at 323 million Russian rubles.
“During the scanning of the sea container at the port of St. Petersburg, Russian customs officials discovered a 2.5-ton fragment of the Aletai meteorite. According to the documents, it was attempted to be smuggled across the border, declared as a ‘landscape design sculpture.’ The expert value of the object is 323 million Russian rubles.”
Route and History of the Aletai Meteorite
According to available information, the cargo was delivered to Russia from Belarus by road transport. A citizen named Alexey Voronetsky is likely involved in this operation. The final destination indicated in the documents was Great Britain.
The Aletai meteorite is a fragment of a protoplanet’s core, estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old. It was first discovered in 1898 in the northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. In the early years after its discovery, over 50 tons of fragments were found, and in 2021, scientists recorded an additional 23 tons of fragments of this meteorite.
Individual parts of the Aletai are currently being sold on Russian online platforms. The price of the fragments depends on their mass and shape: for example, a fragment weighing 490 grams costs 149,000 rubles, while a plate weighing 203 grams is already priced at 305,000 rubles.