Two Americans have been arrested in Guatemala with 166 pre-Hispanic Mayan pieces in their vehicle and face artefact trafficking charges.

The two suspects have been named as Stephanie Allison Jolluck, 49, and Giorgio Salvador Rossilli, 62.

They were arrested in the city of Antigua Guatemala, in the central highlands of Guatemala, on Thursday, 10th November, according to the Guatemalan police.

The authorities reportedly found 166 artefacts in their vehicle after Jolluck was busted at a Guatemalan airport trying to leave the country with some artefacts.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the Guatemalan police on Monday, 14th November saying: “Giorgio Salvidor Rossilli, 62, and Stephanie Allisson Jolluck, 49, were captured by DEIC [Division Especializada En Investigacion Criminal; the Specialised Criminal Investigation Division] investigators from the Department of Investigation of Crimes Against Life and Integrity of Persons, in coordination with agents from the 74th police station, in Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepequez, when they were transporting 166 archaeological pieces in a truck.”

The Guatemalan police also said: “On 10th November, at the La Aurora International Airport, zone 13, SGAIA anti-narcotics policemen during an inspection captured Stephanie Allison Jolluck, 49, who in her luggage was seized two archaeological stones (Mayans) that allegedly bought in a market in Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepequez, with which he intended to leave the country.”

The local prosecutor’s office also said on Monday that the pair “were arrested in flagrante delicto when in a vehicle they were transporting 166 pieces that, according to an archaeologist from the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, are 90 per cent authentic.”

The Guatemalan police said that they had enlisted the help of an archaeologist from the Guatemalan General Directorate of Cultural Heritage to get an expert opinion on the artefacts.

The investigation is ongoing. It is unclear if at the time of writing the suspect had been formally charged.