Armed Forces personnel arrested two students and four workers on Sunday for excavating artifacts west of Cairo in 6th of October City, according to security sources.
Preliminary investigations showed the suspects formed a group for excavating monuments during a lack of security presence in the country.
On Sunday morning, the suspects went to an ancient cemetary in a village called Beni Suef, part of 6th of October City, where soldiers noticed them digging. They were immediately arrested and referred to prosecutors, who sent them to jail while investigations are carried out.
The Egyptian antiquities ministry has previously blamed attempts to steal relics on a security failures and police absence.
A statement released by the ministry last month noted that it didn't have any statistics about the number of stolen artifacts caused by widespread attacks on archaeological sites.
