Rathkeale raiders jailed in €70m museum plot

Gang members jailed for up to 6 years 8 months; £17m in items stolen; may have sold for treble that

Members of an organised crime gang with its roots in Limerick have been jailed for up to six years and eight months in Britain, after plotting to steal up to £57m (€70m) in rhino horn and Chinese artifacts in a series of museum raids.

The group, dubbed the Rathkeale Rovers because of their links to the Limerick town, targeted high-value objects in a string of break-ins, including at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum and Durham’s Oriental Museum in 2012.