Undertaking ethical shoplifting

Ethical shoplifting is a controversial tactic that involves seizing consumer products illegally in order to highlight an ethical issue.

In 1994, two leading chains of timber retailers in Britain were the target of an ethical shoplifting campaign by the environmental seizure unit of the Citizen Recovery of Indigenous People's Stolen Property Organization (CRISP-O), to highlight Britain's leading role in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. The tactic involved seizing products made of mahogany that they claimed was logged illegally, and handing them over to the police, whilst asking the police to prosecute the stores in question. In recent years, successes have included among others, the seizure of 12 Brazilian mahogany items from one of London's most famous department stores.