They have allegedly been linked to British art dealer Robin Symes

The artefacts were being kept in a storage unit under a false name

Hundreds of looted antiquities, including mosaics from Pompeii and ancient sarcophagi, allegedly linked to London art dealer Robin Symes, have been uncovered in Switzerland.

Italian specialist art theft police uncovered 45 large crates of 'priceless' archaeological treasures in a storage unit in Geneva.

They were being stored under a false name, police confirmed, but are thought to belong to Symes.

Sculptures, sarcophagi and and mosaics were found by Italian police on a raid in Geneva, Switzerland

The artwork, including this reclining stone figure of a woman, is considered priceless, according to police

Specialist officers from the art theft unit found the stash while on the trail of a rare missing sarcophagus

The team was looking for Sarcophagus of the Spouses, which resembles one in the Louvre

According to Il Messagger, Italian police were able to convince a Swiss judge that the relics were stolen as some of artefacts were allegedly already on a blacklist.

Photographs of them had been among thousands found in the possession of an Italian policeman, found dead in mysterious circumstances in 1995 while under investigation for art trafficking.

The treasures found in Geneva included classical sculptures, Roman frescos, and sarcophagi, as well thousands of fragments of an entire wall of an Etruscan temple, the Italian newspaper reported.

A spokesman from the Rome Carabinieri's specialist artistic heritage squad, who hunt tomb raiders and smugglers, confirmed the operation in Geneva took place last week.

The police became interested in the Swiss deposit while on the trail of a missing very rare piece, called Sarcophagus of the Spouses, which resembles one in the Louvre.

Many of the ancient artwork was found in pieces, but they retain their value

The pieces have allegedly been linked to a British art dealer, Robin Symes,

They were found hidden inside the crates stored away under the name of an offshore company

Prosecutors in Geneva said there were 'links' between the uncovered artworks and 'tomb robbers'

Symes, London's most successful art dealer, was accused of being part of an international network of tomb raiders and dealers who spirited antiquities worth millions of pounds out of Italy.

Journalist Peter Watson's 2006 book The Medici Conspiracy claimed Symes was an unscrupulous dealer who sold them on to collectors and museums, including the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The dealer was hugely wealthy and owned houses in London, New York, Athens and the Greek islands as well as a Bentley and a Rolls Royce.

But after his partner Christo Michaelides, a Greek shipping heir, died in 1999, Symes was involved in a bitter legal battle with his family.

In 2003 he was bankrupted, and in 2005, imprisoned for contempt of court for seven months.

An Italian expert concluded that the remains came from illegal excavations at an ancient Etruscan necropolis in the Umbria/ Lazio area

Authorities believe 'a once prominent English art dealer' brought the artwork to Geneva

Police discovered some of the artwork was already on a blacklist after pictures of pieces were found in the possession of an Italian policeman under investigation for trafficking in 2005

Thousands of fragments of an entire wall of an Etruscan temple were found among the 'loot'

A statement by the Geneva prosecutors' office said: '45 crates of exceptional pieces originating from illegal excavations have been returned to Italy with the cooperation of Geneva prosecutors.'

The 'priceless' antiquities were discovered in a warehouse after fifteen years marked with the name of an offshore company, it said.

'The pieces were brought there from the United Kingdom by a once prominent English art dealer, whose name has surfaced in several art trafficking cases.

'An Italian expert concluded that the remains came from illegal excavations at an ancient Etruscan necropolis in the Umbria/ Lazio area.