Ottawa, Aug. 18 -- A pre-Hispanic bowl believed to be about 2,000 years old is being returned to Peru after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police helped facilitate its voluntary recovery and repatriation from a Montreal auction house.

Peruvian authorities recognised its cultural and historical significance and contacted Global Affairs Canada through a diplomatic note requesting its repatriation under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the illicit trafficking of cultural property.

Following the request, the Montreal auction house agreed to suspend the sale of the artefact.

The RCMP subsequently transferred the bowl to representatives of the Peruvian Consulate in Montreal on July 16, 2026, for its return to Peru.

The possessor was not financiall...