Powdered rhino horn, which is widely regarded as a medicine in the Far East, is now more valuable by weight than gold—although the horn has no therapeutic benefit. One consequence of its rise in price has been a spate of thefts, mostly from museums. Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, believes there have been over 100 thefts worldwide since 2011. The latest theft was at the National Museum of Ireland, where four animal heads were stolen from the museum’s stores in Swords, on the northern outskirts of Dublin. Early last year, the specimens had been taken off display at the museum’s natural history building as a security precaution. On 17 April, a guard at the store was overpowered and tied up by masked raiders. A museum spokesman says the eight stolen horns have “a street value” of €500,000. theartnewspaper/articles/Thieves-target-rhino-horn/29764
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 08:56:51 +0000
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