The Rathkeale Rovers are a group of criminals based in Ireland but operating internationally. They are all members of Ireland's Travelling Community, and use traditional Traveller work such as laying tarmac or home renovation as cover for illegal activities. Their name comes from their links with the town of

Rathkeale Rathkeale () is a town in west County Limerick, in Ireland. It is 30 km (18 mi) southwest of Limerick city on the N21 road to Tralee, County Kerry, and lies on the River Deel. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same n ...

in Ireland, which has been described as their "base". The gang originated and operate mainly out of Ireland. The man who originated the Rathkeale Rovers was "Sammy Buckshot" (real name Simon Quilligan) who was a small antiques dealer. The Rovers were then mainly carried on by the O'Brien family. The O'Briens were the members who originally started the theft of

rhino horn A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family Rhinocerotidae; it can also re ...

s from museums in 2010. The gang's crimes include fraud such as the tarmac scam, money laundering, drug smuggling, and

art theft Art theft, sometimes called art napping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to ...

. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's law enforcement agency,

Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...

, set up Operation Oakleaf in 2011 at the request of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

(Irish police), in order to gather intelligence on the group. This led to 30 arrests in eight countries for money laundering, drug trafficking and organised robbery worldwide. The

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

has also investigated the group for smuggling rhinoceros horns. Investigators worked with South African police and Europol. In October 2013, the New South Wales Fair Trading department issued a warning that the gang was operating on the Australian eastern seaboard. In November 2013, UK police from 26 forces and the

Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, e ...

arrested 19 people, believed to be members of the Rathkeale Rovers, as part of the Operation Elven investigation into a series of museum and auction house break-ins in 2012. Fourteen men were later convicted for their roles in the thefts. The 14 received prison sentences ranging from 15 months to six years and eight months (the maximum penalty for the charge is seven years). Four of them, all from the same family, were described by the prosecution as "generals" within the Rathkeale Rovers. The gang targeted Chinese antiquities and rhinoceros horns, intending to sell them to the Chinese black market. On 13 April 2012, the gang broke into Cambridge University's

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

while it was closed, stealing 18 jade objects valued at between £15m and £40m, none of which have been recovered and with most probably having ended up in China. They targeted

Durham University Oriental Museum The Oriental Museum, formerly the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, is a museum of the University of Durham in England. The museum has a collection of more than 23,500 Chinese, Egyptian, Korean, Indian, Japanese and other far ...

three times, on one occasion smashing a large hole through an external wall to gain access. Attempted thefts at

Norwich Castle Museum Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

and Gorringes auction house in Lewes were thwarted by visitors. The total value of the items taken was between £18m and £57m, according to the police. After the sentencing of the 14, a police spokesman said that there were other members of the Rathkeale Rovers still at large in the UK. In 2013, the United States arrested the Rathkeale Rovers on US soil. There were 14 arrests made according to the Fish and Wildlife Service's chief of law enforcement.

References

{{reflist Irish Travellers Organised crime groups in the United Kingdom Transnational organized crime Organised crime groups in Ireland