Antiquities looted from ancient temples and Buddhist sites in India have been found on display at the Honolulu Museum of Art after a tourist spotted they were sourced from an art dealer facing charges in India . The museum yesterday handed over seven rare artifacts in its possession after authorities found , to the shock of museum officials , that they had been smuggled into the U.S. by former New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor . Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will take the items back to New York and , from there , eventually return them to the government of India . Marc Thomas , chief preparator at the Honolulu Museum of Art , holds one of seven stolen artifacts that were on display in the museum 's collection . The artifacts are believed to have been smuggled into the U.S. by an art dealer facing charges in India . The items ' origin was discovered after a tourist visiting the museum noticed the dealer , Subhash Kapoor , was listed as their source . Dealer Kapoor , was arrested in 2011 and is awaiting trial in India . Officials say he created false provenances for the antiquities . The discovery was made after a visitor last year recognized the name of Kapoor 's New York gallery as the source of a 2,000-year-old terra cotta rattle and contacted authorities , said Stephan Jost , the museum 's director . Museum officials then pored over their records and determined six other Indian items had ties to Kapoor . He said Kapoor donated one of the items and sold five to the museum , while one was a gift from someone else . Agents are hailing the Honolulu museum for being the first U.S. institution to publicly and easily cooperate with the investigation , dubbed 'Operation Hidden Idol , ' involving four arrests and the recovery of thousands of pieces worth a total of $ 150 million . 'Owning stolen stuff is not part of our mission , ' Mr Jost said . ' I 'm not sure we 've done anything heroic . We just want to do the right thing . ' Mr Jost watched as agents inspected the items - the rattle , figurines , architectural fragments and tiles - and them hauled them in packed crates into a truck . The items were found to have been sourced from Subhash Kapoor ( pictured ) , who is facing charges in India . Brenton Easter , a special agent for Homeland Security , inspects the artifacts in the basement of the Honolulu Museum of Art . This tile is believed to have been looted from a religious temple or ancient Buddhist site in India . They have now been packed up and sent to New York , from where they will be returned to India 's government . Martinez stressed there was no culpability on the museum 's part , as it was n't aware of the items ' provenance when it acquired them between 1991 and 2003 . Mr Jost said American art museums are becoming more rigorous in vetting the history of objects they acquire . 'Could we have done a better job ? Sure , ' he said . 'Were we a victim ? Yes . ' Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Brenton Easter said it was not uncommon for unsavory dealers to donate ill-gotten items for tax benefits and other reasons . Mr Easter is part of a group of agents in New York that focus on cultural property crime whose work includes dismantling the organizations behind the crimes and repatriating the seized pieces . Some institutions are reluctant to come forward , partly because of the financial loss involved , he said . It 's very rare for evidence to come to light to show a museum has items that were illegally obtained , said James Cuno , president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust . An item looted from India is wrapped up in packaging before being sent back to India . The stunning antiquities were sourced from art dealer Subhash Kapoor , who is facing charges in India . 'Claims might come from time to time . But most often those claims are based on just interest or the construction of national identity , ' he said . 'If evidence is provided that 's convincing , no museum will resist . ' He cited an example from about 10 years ago when Italian police uncovered evidence revealing a number of items that were improperly removed from Italy . The U.S. museums where some of the items ended up returned them , he said . Repatriation has become more common in the past couple of decades , said Malcom Bell , a professor of Greek and Roman art and archaeology at the University of Virginia . As a general rule of thumb , museums and art collectors avoid purchasing items exported without clear and valid documentation before 1970 - the year of a United Nations cultural agreement targeting trafficking in antiquities , he said . 'Transparency is important , and if the Honolulu museum has been open , that 's probably to be applauded , ' Bell said . Kapoor sold six of the items to the museum and donated another , while the seventh was gifted by a second individual . Homeland Security officials remove the looted antiquities from storage at the Honolulu Museum of Art .
Seven artifacts were found to have come from an art dealer before death . Unbeknownst to museum officials , they were looted from Indian temples . The discredited authenticity of the stolen items was noticed by visiting tourist . museums and customs officials will now return the artifacts to India .