Cruise Lines warned of Drug Gangs

According to warnings issued by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the UK Border Agency Cruise ships are being targeted by Drug traffickers.

The warning has been issued as eight eastern Europeans are due to be sentenced today at Canterbury Crown Court after being convicted of attempting to smuggle 35Kg of Cocaine ashore from the MSC Orchestra when it arrived in Dover from Brazil last May. The drugs worth an estimated £2.1 million were found sewn into body suits of four Bulgarians and four Lithuanians.

In recent months there have been numerous arrests made followed by successful convictions worldwide of people attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into countries via cruise ships.

In December 2010 three crew members from Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas were arrested for attempting to smuggle 700 Grams of Heroin and 300 Grams of Cocaine into Baltimore from The Dominican Republic.

In May 2010 two Spanish men were arrested and jailed for 12 years each after sailing on board Fred Olsen’s Black Watch from Peru to Dover. They attempted to smuggle 33Kg of Cocaine into the UK.

Also in August a British judge sentenced a fourth British man to jail time following one of the biggest drug smuggling schemes ever documented on a cruise ship. The four passengers brought an estimated 20Kilos of Cocaine into Southampton via P&O Arcadia back in 2008.

Summer 2010 also saw passengers from Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas and Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Dawn after security staff on board smelt Cannabis smoke drifting from their cabins.

Brad Jones, executive director of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, said: "By warning the cruise and travel industries of potential signs of criminal exploitation, we can stop ships from being an attractive form of ready-made transportation for drug traffickers”.