Los Angeles, Feb 16 (Xinhua) A nearly perfectly preserved fossilised nest of dinosaur eggs that may have been illegally taken from China was seized at a Los Angeles-area auction house by agents who were tipped off by a newspaper article.

Bonhams and Butterfields sold the fossil specimen - which is believed to contain the eggs of a predatory raptor from the Cretaceous Period - at auction last December, but the sale was subsequently cancelled, according to an affidavit signed by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, US officials said Thursday.

A wire service story printed in USA Today before the auction stated that the nest had been unearthed in China’s Guangdong province in the early 1980s, then bought by an American collector in 2003.

ICE officials said evidence gathered so far suggests the fossilised nest which was seized last week was brought to the US illegally. ICE agents also said the original shipping label on the nest understated its value, declaring it to be only worth $500. Experts now estimate the nest is worth as much as $350,000.

The winning bidder had agreed to pay $453,296 according to the affidavit. Officials said undervaluing goods is a common ploy used by smugglers to avoid detection. Investigators are now trying to trace the fossil’s origins.

Officials say the specimen is so well preserved that remains of the dinosaur embryos are still visible inside the eggs. “Fossil smuggling may seem like a plot twist in an Indiana Jones movie, but it is a serious crime,” said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE investigations office in Los Angeles.