Treasure Worth Billions Found On Sunken Ship

A Spanish galleon that sank more than 340 years ago with a treasure of plundered gold has been discovered off the coast of Ecuador, the project’s Norwegian financiers said Tuesday.

The Spanish naval flagship La Capitana Jesus Maria went down in the mid-1600s with a cargo of gold, silver and jewels stolen from Indians in what is now Peru.

The treasure is believed to be worth between $3.7 billion and $7.5 billion, according to Norwegian news reports.

“I can hardly believe that I found the ship. I have hardly been to bed the past few days,” Norwegian diver Anton Smith told his hometown newspaper Telemarksavisen about Sunday’s discovery.

An international consortium has been searching for the ship for three years. The finders can keep half the treasure, with the rest going to the government of Ecuador.