Synopses & Reviews
After taking an assignment as a supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, agent Lucinda Schroeder felt chafed by the restrictions of her desk job. She'd spent her career making cases against wildlife poachers, smugglers, and people who exploited wildlife for huge sums of money. As a supervisor she wasn’t allowed to carry a case load. Her responsibility was to oversee the work of five other agents as they investigated wildlife crimes. But she wanted to be in the middle of the action. Finally, she went undercover again, working to investigate a parrot-smuggling operation--only to narrowly escape disaster after several of her colleagues inadvertently blew her cover. Though she worried that she was losing her gift for undercover work, when she learned of the illegal trade in Native American artifacts and the hunting of eagles for their feathers, she set up another sting operation and called it "Operation Monster Slayer" after the Navajo deity that protected the Navajo from harm only to betrayed once again--this time intentionally. Plunder of the Ancients tells the story of the dangerous life of an undercover agent--and her persistence that led to the recovery of nearly a million dollars’ worth of sacred Indian artifacts sold on the black market in Santa Fe in 1996.
Synopsis
Plunder of the Ancients tells the story of the recovery of nearly a million dollars’ worth of sacred Indian artifacts sold on the black market in Santa Fe in 1996.
Synopsis
In the heart of Indian Country in the American west, clandestine criminals have profited greatly from the sale of sacred Native American artifacts stolen from tribal lands. These artifacts were so ancient they had been used since the migration of the first Americans into North America some 15,000 years ago. In 1998 the illegal trafficking of these artifacts peaked in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the same time, the tribes and pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona fell into crisis because many of their sacred ceremonies couldn't be conducted. Without their ceremonial objects, sickness and deep depression became prevalent and the spiritual leaders became desperate to get their divine artifacts back to restore the health, happiness and balance of their people.
Plunder of the Ancients is a rare look inside an undercover investigation in which special agent Lucinda Schroeder reveals the details of her case in which she was assigned to expose Indian Art thieves and dealers in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who out of unmitigated greed, were exploiting sacred artifacts for huge sums of money. Her final task was to bring the criminals to justice; recover the sacred artifacts and return them to their rightful people.
But all did not go well for Schroeder. While her cover was airtight, she faced betrayal from people she regarded beyond reproach. Her additional challenge then became to find out who was so determined to undermine and even destroy her mission of restoring the spiritual lives of Native Americans who were suffering.
Plunder of the Ancients takes readers along on a dangerous and unprecedented assignment as Schroeder battles betrayal, evil spirits, and shape shifters for a cause she strongly believes in. Learn more at www.lucindaschroeder.com
About the Author
Lucinda Delaney Schroeder is a retired special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1974, she became one of the first women hired to work in federal law enforcement. Throughout her thirty-year career she frequently went undercover risking her life for the sake of wildlife and cultural heritage. She lives in Montrose, Colorado.