A man in Chile is being held on suspicion of stealing five tonnes of ice from a glacier in Patagonia to sell as designer ice cubes for cocktails.
Local media reported that the police intercepted a refrigerated truck with an estimated £3,900 worth of illicit ice allegedly bound for whiskies, rums and cocktails in the capital Santiago.
Authorities have accused the driver of theft and are considering adding violation of national monuments to the charge sheet.
Scientists say Jorge Montt, part of the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, is retreating by half a mile a year, making it one of the world's fastest shrinking glaciers and one of the most visible examples of climate change.
Environmentalists have cited it as evidence that man-made climate change is warming the planet. Sceptics have cited other explanations for retreating glaciers but theft, until now, was not one of them. It may be the only case in which both sides agree human activity was to blame.
