Missing Picasso gem found in US to be returned to France

"La Coiffeuse," a cubist work by Picasso worth about $15 million, will be returned to France where it was stolen 17 years ago, US officials said.

The painting, whose name means "The Hairdresser," was recovered last year around Christmas, wrapped in parcel paper.

It had been sent via FedEx from Belgium by someone who had declared it contained an arts and crafts gift valued at $37.

But when the package was inspected, officials at the facility in Newark, New Jersey found the 33 centimeter by 46 centimeter (13 inch by 18 inch)work.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said the painting, which is owned by the French state, will be returned to the French embassy in Washington.

Another Picasso, "Head of a Young Woman" worth over 25 million euros, seized from a yacht off the French island of Corsica,  was transferred Tuesday to a Madrid museum.

That painting, which was subject to a Spanish export ban, had been seized by French customs at the end of July.