Mexico’s ‘robbery of the century’

5th Feb 2023

The jade funerary mask of Maya King Pakal II of Palenque

Just how did one of Mexico’s greatest treasures, the funerary mask of Maya King K’inich Janab Pakal of Palenque, end up languishing in the bedroom cupboard of a drop-out veterinary student in Mexico City, lost to the nation for four years? (Compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

Having experienced its first reconstruction, following its discovery by archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1952, by artist Alberto García Maldonado, the mask was exhibited permanently in the Sala Maya of Mexico’s world-leading Museo Nacional de Antropología. It also travelled abroad, to be displayed temporarily at major exhibitions such as the centennial ‘Before Cortés: Sculpture of Middle America’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1970-71).
It was one of the highlights for visitors to the Anthropology Museum - founded in 1825, and given a new, modern and extensive (15,000 square metres, on three levels) home in 1964. The Museum has only experienced two robberies in its long history. The second one Mexicans would go on to call el robo del siglo...

It was planned and executed by two drop-out veterinary students, Carlos Perches Treviño (28) and Ramón Sardina García (30). Little is known of Ramón, but the ringleader was clearly Carlos, who lived with his parents in Ciudad Satélite in the northern outskirts of Mexico City. His father was an eminent doctor. Significantly, Carlos had long been a great admirer of ancient Mesoamerican culture. The two had made around fifty scouting visits to the Museum over six months, taking photos, making notes and monitoring the movements of the guards. 32 guards patrolled the premises during the day, but only eight at night. The two men chose to make their attempt in the dead of night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 1985. The Museum was closed and the guards were all in a single room, celebrating...

After driving to the Museum in a VW sedan, the two robbers jumped over a 2m security fence, carrying with them a large canvas bag, nipped down a staircase on the side of the building, and at 1 am on Christmas morning slid through an air conditioning duct in the basement into the large Maya Hall. For three uninterrupted hours (some reports say only 30 minutes...) they opened seven exhibition cabinets in the principal Maya, Mexica and Oaxaca halls, filled the bag with precious treasures and, unnoticed, made their escape the same way. At that time the Museum lacked electronic alarms: all they had to do was to lift off the heavy glass protective cases, at their leisure.

Security at the Museum in 1985 was badly lacking. NONE of the pieces lost were insured, there were no electronic alarms or CCTV, a full inventory of the pieces stolen wasn’t available, some pieces lacked photos, doubts even persisted as to the exact number of objects stolen, and the robbery itself wasn’t actually discovered until 8 am that morning. The authorities had absolutely no idea who the culprits were: the prevailing suggestion was that professionals had been involved. Private collectors all over Mexico were harassed, over 500 suspects were arrested - the first to be detained being Museum staff. Wild speculation ensued...

Official reaction was swift. A reward of 50 million Mexican pesos (approximately US$2.6 million) was offered three days later by the Association of Friends of the Museum. A bulletin was circulated to 158 countries. Interpol was involved. The loss of ‘a piece of our history’ was described as being of ‘inestimable value’, the objects completely unsaleable. The initial list mentioned 140 items stolen, though when a catalogue of the artefacts was subsequently distributed internationally the total was reduced to 124 - four of which lacked documentary photographs. Amongst the stolen items, apart from the jade mask - and most of the contents of Pakal’s tomb - was a famous 2,000-year-old jade Zapotec bat god mask from Monte Albán and an equally famous Aztec polished obsidian monkey-figure jar with an estimated value on its own of $US20 million. Dozens of items of gold jewellery had also been taken.

Moreover, the Mexican public’s interest was rapidly distracted by broader events: a massive and deadly earthquake in which more than five thousand died hit Mexico City in September 1985; this was compounded by a serious economic crisis and widespread distrust of Mexican authorities. Then in 1986 came the World Cup - hosted by Mexico. Inevitably - and with no developments reported in the hunt for the robbers - people soon forgot all about the robbery...

For four long years no-one knew where the priceless artefacts were. Perches kept everything in a large bag in a cupboard in his bedroom. Then, a year after the robbery, he made the mistake of going to Acapulco and making friends with a drug trafficker by the name of José Ramón Serrano and his Argentinian partner, a diva who worked under the professional name of Princesa Yamal (her real name was Isabel Camila Maciero). Perches was after drugs but also interested in finding an underworld purchaser for the treasures. They stayed friends for the next three years, to-ing and fro-ing between the two cities. Perches finally returned to Mexico City in April 1989, having bought cocaine from Serrano with two of the stolen pieces.

Interviewed years later Princesa Yamal recalled visiting Perches’ home in Mexico City and sensing something odd: she saw Pakal’s mask lying in his bedroom, and noticed Perches, his girlfriend and the second robber Sardina all wearing exotic ‘crafts’.
When high on drugs her partner, the drug trafficker Serrano kept mentioning that Perches had committed a major robbery.
Serrano eventually introduced Perches to a leading drugs honcho called Salvador ‘El Capo’ Gutiérrez - part of a plan to help Perches sell the treasures. There was talk of the total value approaching one billion dollars...

In 1988 the police investigation was placed in the hands of a tough guy, Javier Coello Trejo (‘El Fiscal de Hierro’) who placed a network of spies into dozens of Mexican jails. Months went by, and then on January 1st 1989 El Capo, an ex-military man, was arrested and began trading information in the hope of getting a reduced sentence. One day a call was overheard between him and Perches, referring to the sale of items belonging to ‘Mexico’s biggest art’.
Perches was placed under surveillance for 45 days. When Police finally raided his house they found 111 of the stolen items still in his closet.

He was arrested on 10th June 1989 with six others, including his brother Luis and Princesa Yamal - all on drugs charges - but Perches and his brother were also charged with robbery from the Museum.
Two years later Perches was sentenced to between 22 and 32 (there are conflicting reports) years’ detention in Santa Martha Acatitla jail; Princesa Yamal was sentenced to eight years. In the end she served three in the Penal de Tepepan, he served six. Perches was subsequently released, only to be killed subsequently, in mysterious circumstances.

Sardina is still free. He disappeared with seven of the stolen artefacts after calling on a friend, María Antonieta, in Naucalpan and asking her to give him a locked ‘tool box’ (containing some of the loot) as he had to ‘leave the country urgently...’ Nothing has been heard of him since.
Most of the pieces were retrieved undamaged. The Zapotec bat god figure had come apart and needed repairing.

A new exhibition was set up to display the pieces, titled ‘Recovered Inheritance’. Today it’s believed that that up to ten of the original objects may still be unaccounted for.
In January 1986 the Museum introduced an electronic alarm system and CCTV.
In 2001 a second restoration project was initiated, involving several of Mexico’s greatest treasures. The project was called ‘Proyecto Máscaras Funerarias’.

Pakal’s mask - consisting of two hundred individual jade tesserae, no two of which are the same - took two years to be restored, under the direction of Laura Filloy Nadal (a member of our Panel of Experts). The restoration, experts agree, has given the mask more human features and proportions, rendering it more in keeping with a portrait. Compare the two restorations in picture 13...

Finally, if you haven’t actually seen the original jade mask of K’inich Janab Pakal, it’s a trip well worth making, to the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, in the lower floor of the Sala Maya, where a splendid reconstruction of the king’s tomb is on view, together with many of the original items found at Palenque in 1952. It goes without saying that today you can’t get near the mask itself - it’s protected by a massive glass barrier...

Picture sources:-
• Main picture & pic 14: photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 1 (top R): image scanned from Before Cortés: Sculpture of Middle America: a Centennial Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from September 30, 1970 through January 3, 1971, MMA, 1970
• Pic 1 (bottom L) & pic 13 (top L): image scanned from Masks of the Spirit: Image and Metaphor in Mesoamerica by Roberta H. Markman and Peter T. Markman, University of California Press, 1989
• Pic 2: photo downloaded from https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2018/10/13/dos-estudiantes-dos-narcos-y-una-vedette-la-historia-del-robo-del-siglo-en-mexico/
• Pic 3 (top R): downloaded from https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Plano_del_Museo_de_Antropologia_de_Mexico.png
• Pic 3 (bottom L): image downloaded from https://www.la-prensa.com.mx/archivos-secretos/saqueo-al-museo-de-antropologia-el-robo-del-siglo-6218499.html
• Pic 4: photos from El Universal.com
• Pic 5 (background photo): image downloaded from https://www.mna.inah.gob.mx/historia_detalle.php?id=8
• Pic 8: image downloaded from culturalcolectiva.com
• Pic 9: main image from The Intelligencer/Ogden Newspapers; inset photo downloaded from El Universal.com
• Pic 10: photos downloaded from https://www.la-prensa.com.mx/archivos-secretos/saqueo-al-museo-de-antropologia-el-robo-del-siglo-6218499.html
• Pic 11: report from Nashua Telegraph New Hampshire 13/6/89
• Pic 12: photo downloaded from El Universal.com
• Others images from the internet.