In court documents seen by The Associated Press, the panel of three judges presiding over the court in the southern city of Cádiz said the five-year statue of limitations for the alleged crime had already passed.
But they also complained that a 2013 request made to the US for the owners of Odyssey to be questioned in the case was never heeded. "Even though we share our surprise, puzzlement, and even anger, for what we can only call the unprecedented course of this case, it would be senseless to let it go on if we consider the statue of limitation," the judges wrote.The Mercedes galleon was sunk by British ships near the Strait of Gibraltar in 1804. It was transporting 574,553 silver coins and 212 gold coins from metals that were mined and minted in the Andes.
Upon its return from the US, the treasure was given a home at Spain's National Museum of Underwater Archaeology in the Mediterranean city of Cartagena.
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