Stolen whisky worth £70,000 was found in a lorry after a motorway police chase on Saturday.
The haul of Johnny Cree single malt, which is priced at £32 a bottle, was found by officers after they stopped the “suspicious” lorry.
Traffic officers from West Yorkshire Police were on a drink-driving patrol on a motorway near Bradford shortly before 8am when they saw the lorry.
After it failed to stop when requested, they chased the lorry on the northbound M606 before using a “stinger” to stop it. The northbound carriageway of the motorway was closed briefly.
Inside, police found dozens of boxes of Johnny Cree single malt whisky, which is produced in Edinburgh.
The force said two men in the lorry’s cab were arrested after they failed to produce any documents to prove the whisky stash had been legitimately obtained.
“Officers from West Yorkshire’s roads policing unit conducting drink-drive patrols this morning weren’t expecting the alcohol-related offence which briefly closed the M606 near Bradford,” a spokesman for the force said.
It is not currently known how the whisky was acquired, but it is estimated to have a retail value of £70,000.
Johnny Cree is produced at John Crabbie & Co’s Bonnington Distillery in Leith, Edinburgh, has notes of “caramel, juicy orchard fruits and toasted oak” and is named after the grandson of the company founder.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “Searching the lorry, suspected to be cloned and with no supporting documents, officers found and recovered an estimated £70,000 of Johnny Cree whisky, believed to be stolen.
“Two males were arrested from the vehicle and have been taken into custody.
“West Yorkshire Police regularly carry out proactive commercial vehicle operations to combat this and other offending on our roads, denying their use to criminals and making them safer for all.”
