Greenpeace entered delivery firm’s distribution center, stole package

Greenpeace may have scored some PR points abroad by exposing a scheme in which crew members of Japanese whaling research vessels secretly sold large amounts of whale meat, but their methods have angered some Japanese bloggers:

The reputation of Greenpeace Japan appears to have dropped a few notches this week, with news that the organization, in order to expose the theft of whale meat by crew members of a whaling research ship, itself stole meat to use as evidence of the crime. In order to seize packages of whale meat, members of Greenpeace Japan admitted to having entered a delivery company’s distribution center in Tokyo on April 15th without permission. In total Greenpeace found 23.5 kilograms of whale meat, worth 100,000 to 300,000 yen (or roughly $1000-$3000 USD), smuggled by 12 crewmembers of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd.

The claim by a lawyer representing Greenpeace that: “The group’s acts [such as trespassing] weren’t illegal because they were attempting to uncover alleged theft” did not go over well with bloggers, however, who questioned the double-standard of committing a crime to expose another crime.

More details, including a translation of some Japanese blog posts, can be found at Global Voices Online. There is also an article on Mainichi about the delivery firm filing a complaint with police over the theft.