CAIRO (Sputnik) – A former Egyptian MP has been leading a smuggling gang for years, local media outlets have reported. Alaa Hassanein and his accomplices smuggled 201 Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman artifacts, says a statement released by Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior. Police have found dozens of ancient artifacts at the ex-MP’s home. Among them “two wooden tablets engraved with hieroglyphics, 36 different statues of various lengths, 52 copper coins believed to be from the Greek and Roman periods”. Antiquities Council Secretary General Mostafa al-Waziry said some of the relics date back to “ancient Egyptian civilization”.