Greenpeace is accusing a Japanese fishing company of smuggling whalemeat onto the black the market.

From the Guardian:

Anti-whaling campaigners said today that they had uncovered an embezzlement ring at the heart of the Japanese whaling fleet, accusing crew members of stealing choice cuts of whale meat worth millions of yen for sale on the black market.

Greenpeace’s claims, made after a four-month secret investigation, are expected to deal another blow to Japan’s whaling industry, already reeling from unprecedented international criticism of its recent “scientific” hunt in the Antarctic.

The group filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors requesting a full investigation into allegations that 12 crew members aboard the Nisshin Maru, the fleet’s mother ship, had stolen as many as 47 boxes of whale meat worth around ¥15m (£73,500) from the vessel when it docked in Tokyo last month.

The crewmembers, all employees of the fleet’s operator, Kyodo Senpaku, allegedly smuggled the meat ashore disguised as personal luggage before passing it on to traders for illegal sale to shops and restaurants.

One smuggler was reported to have been able to build a house with the money gained from smuggling whale bacon.