THE notorious Rathkeale Rovers are in the frame for the theft of a rhino horn in France on Monday night.

French investigators contacted gardai on Tuesday in a bid to establish if officers here had any intelligence about the raid at Thoiry Zoo, near Paris.

4 Graphic images show the rhino after having his horn removed Credit: EPA

Detectives — including officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau — will now examine the gang’s possible links to the French heist.

During the robbery, four-year-old rhino Vince was shot in the head three times before his horn was hacked off.

One theory being explored by cops is that the Rathkeale Rovers paid another burglary gang to do the job.

Interpol and Europol are involved in the hunt for the rhino killers too.

4 Top left to bottom right: Michael Hegarty, Danny Flynn, Patrick Sheridan, Mick Slattery, Daniel O'Brien, Richard O'Brien, John O'Brien

A source said: “The Rathkeale Rovers wouldn’t be brave enough to do something like this but have the cash to pay others for their crimes.

“They have contacts all over the world because of their criminality and would find it easy securing the services of an experienced burglary gang for something like this.

“French police have identified a number of suspects and obviously the Rathkeale Rovers are high on the list because this is their speciality.”

This week’s raid in Paris has also promoted wildlife parks across Europe to increase security.

A Dublin Zoo spokesman said: “Dublin Zoo is confident in its top-class security facilities.”

The Irish criminals have previously tried to establish links with Big Game hunters in South Africa in a bid to buy rhino horns.

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The animal is listed as an endangered species and the trade is illegal.

But an underground market for the horn is still fuelled by superstition — widely held in Vietnam and China — of its Viagra-like effects.

And as the hunt for the raiders continues, members of the Limerick-based gang have also been linked to a series of scams in Spain, France, England and Poland since the start of the year.

They have been identified as suspects in dodgy tarmac deals, illegal building scams and the stolen tools trade. One of their main frauds is fleecing pensioners after convincing them their properties required urgent building work.

We can also reveal other members of the mob — who own lavish properties in England, Spain, France, America and Ireland — have been on the prowl in South America since Christmas.

They’re operating in Honduras, San Salvador and Colombia, raking in €15,000 per week.

The hoods — who have links to major organised crime groups in China — also made it to the Dominican Republic and Canada in 2016.

4 The innocent rhino before thugs hacked off his horn Credit: EPA

They travelled across the Atlantic after museums in Europe stepped up their security following a spate of rhino horn thefts over the last five years.

As the thugs continue to roam the globe, we can also reveal how Rathkeale gang member Patrick ‘Crying Dan’ Sheridan is back in Limerick after he was released from prison in the US in January.

US court documents obtained by us reveal Sheridan was jailed in Waco, Texas, for a year after violating local wildlife trafficking laws by buying four black rhino horns from a taxidermist before selling them in New York.

The file shows how Sheridan contacted a taxidermy business in Austin, Texas, on September 21, 2010, to “inquire about purchasing” a black rhinoceros shoulder mount.

Although he fled to the UK, he was later extradited after British cops worked closely with CAB and US authorities.

Sheridan’s brother-in-law Michael Slattery, 25, is back home after serving a 14-month jail term for his role in the scam.

As part of his defence, Slattery received references from UK-based Lord Vincent Constantine, former Rathkeale priest Maurice Costello, ex-garda Con Brosnan and London antiques dealer Patrick Sandberg.

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Lord Constantine said: “I have found him to be a trustworthy and courteous young man. I was extremely surprised to learn that he had been arrested and can only think his actions were taken out of stupidity and are totally out of character.”

Fr Costello added: “I have known the family over many years and claim Michael as a very good friend of mine.”

As part of his defence, the court documents revealed Slattery was “obviously intelligent” and someone who “routinely travels” the world.

They also tell how cops “view the prohibited sale of black-rhino horn as a link in a chain of events ­inexorably leading to the death of one black rhino after another, until extinction”.

Another Limerick man, John Slattery, is also understood to be holed up in Ireland despite an international arrest warrant hanging over him.

The 24-year-old is wanted in Texas, US, after being accused of “illegally trafficking endangered black-rhino horns”.

Court files reveal Slattery, who previously lived in France, travelled to Joshua, Texas, to buy €8,500 of rhino body parts from a taxidermist.

This week’s raid comes after 14 members of the gang were caged at Birmingham Crown Court in April 2016 for their parts in the plot to steal €73million worth of rhino horns and Chinese artefacts in the UK.

At the hearing, Judge Murray Creed told the court how seven members of the gang were connected to the O’Brien family in Rathkeale, Co Limerick.

The judge said: “Of the 14 convicted, seven were connected to that family. Others were drafted in to find thieves for the burglaries.

“This was an extremely sophisticated conspiracy — it was serious organised crime.”

Richard O’Brien Snr’s son Richard ‘Kerry’ O’Brien, 31, received a five-and-a-half-year sentence while brother John ‘Cash’ O’Brien, 68, got five years and three months.

His brother-in-law Daniel ‘Turkey’ O’Brien, 45, was caged for six years and eight months, while ­associate Danny Flynn was handed a four-year jail term.

Professional thief Michael Hegarty, for whom the authorities in Florida, US, have issued an international warrant, was also jailed for six-and-a-half years for his role in the UK thefts.

The huge investigation into the gang was led by Durham Constabulary, who worked closely with CAB.