Activists arrested!

Breaking news - two Japanese Greenpeace activists, Junichi and Toru, have been arrested for exposing the stolen whale meat scandal which led to the ongoing investigation by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor of the government's Southern Ocean whale hunt.

They're being investigated for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat - yet they delivered the meat to the public prosecutor a month ago, as evidence of a systematic whale meat smuggling operation. The activists had tracked the box, along with many others like it, after it had been smuggled off the Nisshin Maru, following its return from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. They then followed the shipment to a depot in Tokyo, where they intercepted one of four boxes destined for the same private address, in order to verify the contents, and establish the fraud being carried out against the taxpayer.

You see, Junich and Toru uncovered a scandal backed by by powerful figures within the Japanese government - those who seek to benefit from whaling, so it's unsurprising that those figures want revenge. What is surprising is the bitter irony - that the two guys, who are innocent of committing a crime, have been arrested for returning whale meat stolen from the Japanese taxpayer - whose hard-earned tax yen keeps the whaling fleet afloat. There's clearly intimidation tactics at work, driven by the government agencies responsible for creating the whale meat scandal.

The four-month undercover investigation found evidence of an embezzlement ring that involves crew members of the Nisshin Maru, who were quite openly taking the best cuts of whale meat for themselves during the long Southern Ocean trip - then smuggling it ashore disguised as personal baggage before passing it to traders for black market sales.

Working from information given by former and current Kyodo Senpaku employees, the activists documented the offloading of the smuggled whale meat into a special truck, in full view of Kyodo Senpaku (whaling fleet company) officials and other crew members when the Nisshin Maru docked on April 15th, this year. When later intercepted, the the consignment notes claimed the box contained "cardboard" but in reality it held 23.5kg of salted 'prime' whale meat, worth up to US$3,000. One informer told said that dozens of crew take as many as 20 boxes each1

So, no we have a situation where the Japanese whaling industry has been shamed around the world for its lack of scientific credibility, and at home for its corruption. Those responsible are striking out, taking revenge on those who would seek to expose that corruption... Junich and Toru.

Stay tuned - naturally we want to try and get them out of police custody as quickly as possible! Take Action now to release our activists »