Macedonia may have found its ultimate gold digger.

Police in the tiny Balkan country say a 52-year-old guard at an Orthodox Christian cemetery was detained after alleged opening graves to prize gold teeth and dentures and reselling them.

The suspect identified only by his initials, J.K., was taken in for questioning in the western city of Tetovo after police searched him outside a shopping mall and found him carrying 12 pairs of dentures, four gold tooth caps, believed to be destined for sale in neighboring Serbia.

Tetovo police spokesman Marijan Josifovski said Wednesday the man has been charged with desecrating graves, an offense that carried a jail sentence of up to one year.