A
London bar has been raided by police for allegedly serving cocktails flavoured
with illegal whale skin.
The
Metropolitan police targeted the Nightjar bar in Hoxton, East London, where a
drink called the Moby Dick was listed in an online menu.
It
was described as containing Laphroaig whisky, Drambuie, ale and bitters, along
with a "whale skin infusion".
There
is a Europe-wide ban on the sale of whale meat and products, except under
strict restrictions in Greenland and Denmark.
Police
were tipped-off in October that the bar was serving whale skin illegally, and
raided the City Road premises on December 3.
It
was carried out by officers from the Met's Wildlife Crime Unit and an officer
from the United Kingdom Border Force.
"One
item from the premises was seized," said a police spokesman. "This
has been sent for analysis."
No
arrests have been made.
Nightjar
director Edmund Weil said: "We did have a drink on this year’s menu which
included a small amount of scotch whisky infused with a single 2 x 5cm strip of
dried whale skin.
"The
strip was purchased in a shop by an employee while on a trip to Japan in autumn
2011.
"Until
the police visit, neither ourselves nor our employees were aware of the
legislation under which the bottle was seized.
"In
hindsight we realise that regardless of the legal framework around such
products, it was an error of judgement on our part to include this on our menu,
and we would like to offer our apologies to anyone who may have been offended
by it.
"We
have removed the drink entirely from our menu, which will be reprinted before
Monday to reflect this."
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