Part of the material taken by the Bernals is in a private collection in Switzerland. Carlos Wester was prepared to say this much but refused to identify who exactly has the material. The discovery of the Bernals' activities by the police led to Alva's legitimate excavation of four more levels of the pyramid. The publicity received by the discovery of the royal tombs has been remarkable. In 1987 tourists in Chiclayo were 'a handful'.
Indirect indications are also favourable.
Not only is Dr Alva one of the most famous men in Peru today but even the policeman on duty at the toll plaza on the road out of Chiclayo knew Carlos Wester and saluted. Posters advertising Sip n, and replicas of objects, are displayed everywhere, from the airport to the casinos. The tombs have really fired the imagination of the whole local population, who see that they can all benefit, not just the huaqeros. After the original publicity, when Dr Alva and his colleagues moved in, the locals were very difficult. Modern Sip n is poor, but not abject.