Two Greenpeace activists have been arrested in Tokyo for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat.
31-year-old Junichi Sato and 41-year-old Toru Suzuki claim they took the meat to use as evidence of a smuggling operation by the crew of the Nisshin Maru after this year's hunt in the Southern Ocean.
And Greenpeace says the evidence resulted in a Japanese government investigation into the scandal.
Greenpeace protested against the arrests, saying that it obtained the whale meat as part of a legitimate investigation.
"Without taking such action, we couldn't have filed an accusation over the embezzlement of whale meat," Kazuo Hizumi, a lawyer for Greenpeace Japan, told reporters at the headquarters.
"The raids must not affect the investigation into the embezzlement accusation."