Rhino horn thieves staging a museum break-in were foiled by staff who had replaced the rare specimens valued at some €270,000 with replicas.
The resin models were put in place three months ago following a string of similar raids across Britain and Europe.
While real horn is worth about €60,000 a kilo, the fakes stolen from the Natural History Museum at Tring, in Hertfordshire, are worthless.
Europol believes an Irish organised crime gang has become one of the most significant players in the illegal global trade in rhino horns. The gang has preyed on auction rooms, galleries and private collections in recent months.
“We’re deeply saddened by this pointless theft,” said Paul Kitching, manager of the Natural History Museum at Tring. “The rhinoceros horns that have been stolen were replicas made out of resin, so they have no commercial value.”
The two stolen replicas were taken from an Indian and a white rhino. Both weigh around 2kg. Nothing else was taken during the raid.
The Irish gang are members of a large Traveller family. Based in Ireland, they have been active across the UK and Europe and have moved some members into the US and Australia.
In recent months the gang has emerged as the chief suspects in museum robberies in Italy, Germany and the UK in which rhino horns on display were stolen from facilities with little or no security measures. It has been known to use violence in some of the robberies.
Some of these have involved gathering information on elderly antique dealers with rhino horns in stock and putting the dealers under surveillance.
Some victims have been badly assaulted and threatened with extreme violence. Sources believe the horns have been primarily sold into the Chinese medicines market. However, there is also an international underground collectors’ market, and gardaí believe some of the horns stolen by the gang may have been sold into that arena.
The horn itself has now become so sought after it is worth more than diamonds, gold, heroin and cocaine. Its sale is being driven in part by a belief that it can cure cancer or reverse the effects of stroke. In Asia, it is often powdered and used for medicinal purposes.
Countries and conservation groups across the world are now working together by sharing intelligence, policing tactics and public awareness campaigns to end the trade amid fears it could stimulate poaching.