Rhino horns like these ones being smuggled in Thailand in January have been stolen from National Museum Archives.

Rhino horns like these ones being smuggled in Thailand in January have been stolen from National Museum Archives.

MASKED RAIDERS HAVE made off with half a million euro worth of rhino heads and horns from a national museum archive.

A security guard was tied up at about 10.40pm last night by three masked men who broke into the National Museum Archive at Balheary Road in Swords, Co Dublin.

The men spent an hour in the building, loading up the rhino heads and horns into a large white van. The security man, who was uninjured, managed to free himself and raise the alarm just after midnight.

Rhino horn is a target of illegal traders, and is a valuable commodity on the black market with its use being sought in some eastern medicine traditions. The load stolen last night has an estimated value of €500,000.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact Swords Garda station on 01 6664700, while gardai are still at the scene in Swords conducting forensic examinations.