Cruise Law News : Maritime Lawyer & Attorney : James M. Walker : Walker & O'Neill Law Firm : Admiralty Law, Cruise Ship Accidents & Injuries

A newspaper in Bermuda reports today on two U.S. cruise ship passengers who were fined $1,000 after a small amount of pot was found in their cabins on a cruise ship in port.

In separate cases, two cruise passengers, each aged 53, were arrested after authorities in Bermuda boarded the Norwegian Dawn yesterday and conducted warrant-less searches of cabins on the cruise ship.

One man had 13 grams of cannabis in his cabin and the other had five grams.  

The Magistrate fined each man $1,000 or 100 days in jail.  

Arresting U.S. cruise passengers with small amounts of pot left in the cruise ship cabins is big business in Bermuda. NCL will sell you an all-you-can-drink alcohol package for $49 a day and you can get smashed on the cruise ship and then go to a bar ashore in Bermuda and get hammered and stagger back to the ship. No one cares.

But Bermuda loves to send sniffer dogs onto visiting cruise ships to search empty cabins for a joint or two without a warrant or probable cause. Why? Its easy money.

U.S. passengers with a few joints will always chose to fork over $1,000 to $3,000 rather than spend a few months in jail in the middle of the Atlantic waiting to fight the charges.

This is a ridiculous topic we have talked about often:

Surprise. Surprise. Surprise. More Bermuda Cruise Ship Reefer Madness   

Bermuda's Kangaroo Courts Back in Action

More Reefer Madness - Bermuda's Screwed Up Sense of Priorities

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A year ago I wrote an article about an over-zealous Carnival security officer who allegedly strip searched a 17 year old passenger suspected of possessing pot while aboard the Sensation cruise ship.

The search included a cavity inspection and the girl was told to remove her tampon in front of two male ship officers.  "Lawsuit: Carnival Cruise Lines Strip Searches Girl Looking For Pot" 

Carnival PR representatives were dismissive of the lawsuit, characterizing the claims as "far-fetched." The cruise line basically called the teenager a liar.

The case has been litigated for the past 11 months. Carnival recently argued that punitive damages should not be permitted because none of the employees involved in the incident were working in a "managerial capacity." Carnival essentially argued that they were just low level employees and any wrongful conduct was not part of any type of policy or procedure condoned by the cruise line.

The federal court disagreed, holding that "the fact that these officers follow directives and protocol from their supervisors does not necessarily mean that they could not also possess the discretion to ultimately determine Carnival's strip search policy." 

The case is now heading toward trial.

Read lawsuit here.

Story credit: Courthouse News Service

Photo credit: Huffington Post

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Bermuda Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner was again busy fining cruise tourists last week.

According to the Bermuda Sun, Magistrate Warner fined a Norwegian Star passenger on his honeymoon $800 after the local police used a sniffer canine to locate a few marijuana cigarettes (6 grams) in the passenger's cabin while he and his newlywed bride were enjoying the sites ashore. 

I have written a dozen articles (here's one and here's another) about the good Judge Warner fining U.S. passengers big bucks for small amounts of pot.  It seems like these fines are a major source of revenue for Bermuda.  The fact that the pot is found only after police take dogs on the cruise ships to conduct searches of private cabins with no warrant or probable cause doesn't seem to mind the prosecution or the judiciary in Bermuda.

American passengers who are already kicked off the cruise ship and facing jail time are always quick to pay $500 to $3,000 to avoid a few months in the slammer on the rocky island.  What a racket.  The newspapers in Bermuda love covering these type of cases and are sure to plaster a photo of the busted pothead in their newspapers. 

And speaking of rackets, Magistrate Warner also fined a Royal Caribbean cruise passenger $4,000 after he was caught stealing stuff on the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship.  According to Bernews, the Royal Caribbean security caught a passenger from New Jersey "using (a) stolen credit card in three transactions to dishonestly acquire goods and services (from the ship spa) including two bottles of men’s cologne."

Now I don't like crooks and I'm glad that the bad guy with the cologne got caught.  But I wonder how on earth a judge in Bermuda could assert jurisdiction over a theft committed by a U.S. citizen on a foreign flagged cruise ship in international waters?

According to Bernews, Magistrate Warner was also wondering why he was presiding over such a case. The newspaper states: "After questioning and then confirming that the ship was a "Bermuda Registered ship" and Bermuda authorities were lawfully able to take action, Senior Magistrate Archie Warner allowed the case to proceed."

The problem is that the Explorer of the Seas is not a vessel registered in Bermuda. Everyone knows that. No Royal Caribbean cruise ships are registered in Bermuda. The Explorer of the Seas is registered in and flies the flag of the Bahamas. (Next time the magistrate should send someone to the dock and take a photo of the cruise ship's stern. You will see: Explorer of the Seas - Nassau.)

Bermuda, the Bahamas, whatever. Both start with a "B," close enough for Magistrate Warner.  The short hearing netted Bermuda $4,000 - quick money for a case that it has no jurisdiction over.    

This would be amusing, I suppose, except for the fact that Bermuda demonstrates no interest in prosecuting serious cruise ship crimes.  Bermuda looks the other way when faced with rapes, abandonment of mariners at sea, or mysterious disappearances of crew members that occur on cruise ships which are, in fact, flying the maritime flag of Bermuda.

Photo Credit: Explorer of the Seas - travel.com

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Bermuda's never ending war on cruise passengers continues with the Royal Gazette newspaper reporting today that "Tearful Cruise Passenger Fined for Drugs."

The newspaper reports that NCL cruise passenger Mr. Cruz (I'm not kidding)  broke into tears today as he was charged with cannabis possession.

The case involves the familiar scheme where the Bermuda customs officials welcome the cruise passenger into their country to shop, eat and drink and then send sniffer dogs on the cruise ship to conduct random and warrant-less searches of the passengers' cabins. 

The dogs sniffed out some reefer, 12 grams, from 26 year old Cruz' cabin on the Norwegian Star.

The sentencing judge was, as usual, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner, whose title should be Senior Collector of Revenue. 

Cruz pleaded for mercy: “I’m sorry. I know I was not supposed to do it but my mom has stage four cancer and my dad just got an injury to his eye.”

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner could care less and whacked him $800, without any expressions of condolences to Cruz's sick family. 

The beat in Bermuda goes on .  .  . 

For other reefer madness stories, read:

More Reefer Madness - Bermuda's Screwed Up Sense of Priorities

Surprise. Surprise. Surprise. More Bermuda Cruise Ship Reefer Madness

May 18, 2012 Update:  The Royal Gazette news paper in Bermuda picks up on our blogs about busting passengers for small amounts of pot.

May 25, 2012 Update:  "Driving Tourists Away" - interesting letters to the editor in Bermuda about cruise ship pot. 

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Newspapers in Bermuda are reporting on what is routine practice in Bermuda when a cruise ship arrives from the U.S.  Customs officer take a sniffer dog aboard and find a few joints of pot in a passenger's cabin.

Today a 30 year old passenger sailing aboard the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship pleaded guilty to two charges involving the possession of 7.16 grams of pot and 0.88 grams of ecstasy.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner presided over the case, as usual. The prosecutors told the magistrate that around 1:25 PM on Sunday May 13th, a Bermuda Customs canine in a sniffer dog team had alerted to illegal drugs in cabin 8597 on board the Norwegian Dawn. The cabin, unoccupied at the time, was entered and searched. 

Later that day, on his return to the ship, the Bermuda officials arrested the passenger and took him to the police station. Today, he told the magistrate that the drugs were  “For my personal use to party while I was on the cruise.”  The Magistrate fined him $800 on the charge of possessing the pot and another $800 for possessing the powder. 

We have written over a dozen articles like this. Just the other week, I wrote this one - Surprise. Surprise. Surprise. More Bermuda Cruise Ship Reefer Madness.

Magistrate Warner has fined every cruise passenger who has stood before him with a little reefer found on the cruise ship. No need for probable cause or a search warrant.  American potheads are easy money.

Very strange revenue collection business going on in Bermuda and a real double standard as well. 

Yesterday I posted the Inside Edition video showing cruise passengers chugging beer, downing shots, showing their booty and passing out at the ship bar.  No cruise or port officials could care less. But expect the officials in Bermuda to shake you down for a few thousand dollars if you stash some reefer in your cabin to get high on the high seas.

May 16, 2012 Update: The South Florida Business Journal mentions our blog in an article Alcohol vs. Drugs on Cruise Ships. 

Photo Credit:  Royal Gazette

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If you are a stoner who can't help stashing a couple joints of ganja in your socks to smoke sailing from New York to Bermuda, chances are you have a good chance of meeting Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner. 

You see, Magistrate Warner is a criminal judge in Bermuda's capital of Hamilton who helps the customs officers raise revenue for the little island in the middle of the Atlantic by fining cruise passengers who have small amounts of marijuana in their cabins on the cruise ships.  

The game goes like this.  Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise ships arrive in port.  The Bermuda customs officers sit back, smile and greet all of the cruise tourists.  Once the cruise ships have emptied out and the passengers are ashore to sight-see and drink, the customs officer take their sniffer dogs and conduct random searches of passenger cabins.

No need for a search warrant. No need for something we call "probable cause" in the U.S.  Once the dogs have sniffed out a few cigarettes of the evil weed, the customs officers wait for the passengers to return with their trinkets and souvenirs. Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.

That's when Magistrate Warner steps in.  He has never seen a cruise passenger with a good excuse. I'm sorry your honor, I had no intention of bringing the pot ashore to your beautiful country.  $1,000 or 30 days in jail!  It's for medical use, I have a note from my doctor, I have cancer.  Nonsense, $3,000 or 60 days in the slammer!      

The penalty for having pot in your cruise cabin in port ranges for $500 to $3,000 (for less than 20 grams), a stern lecture by Magistrate Warner, and your photo appearing in Bermuda's Royal Gazette newspaper. Make certain that you cruise with cash or have a balance of a few grand in your ATM because Magistrate Warner will otherwise be happy to invite you to stay in a jail on the rocky island for 30-60 days in lieu of immediate payment.  

The latest cruise passenger to fall into the trap was a 43 year old passenger from New York last week. The newspaper article in Bermuda reports that the sniffer dogs were at work at 9:37 in the morning and found pot and a pipe in a safe in the cruise passenger's cabin on the Norwegian Star.  After a night in jail, the passenger was fined $2,000 for the pot and pot resin and $2,000 for the pipe.  Again, no search warrant, no probable cause, and pot-in-a-safe-on-the-ship scenario.  

The cruise passenger was contrite: “It’s embarrassing and I apologise to the court, the government, the police, customs and the ship as well."  $4,000 or off with your head! 

People ask me, why do you care if cruise stoners get fined, are you a pothead too?  I'm happy to respond. No I don't toke,  Never have.  A nice scotch at the end of a long day is my vice.

The problem is that Bermuda has a strange sense of priorities. It delights in small time pot busts of vacationers with a cigarette or two in the cabin safe to be smoked for recreational use on the high seas.  But rapes or violent shipboard crimes?  Bermuda is indifferent to prosecuting rapists and criminals on Bermuda flagged ships.   

Compare Bermuda's madness with the customs policy in Canada toward cruise ships.  For a period of a year or so, customs officers in Halifax, Canada arrested four crewmembers and cruise passengers with child pornography on their computers.  All of then served jail time.  A good use of Canadian customs and judicial resources.

But in Bermuda, you'll never see a cruise rapist, pedophile or child porn pervert arrested by the customs personnel or sentenced by Magistrate Warner.  There's no money to be made in arresting real criminals.

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In the never ending war on drugs, the SKNVibes newspaper in St. Kitts reports that its the port police seized 2 grams of pot in a cabin on the Celebrity Silhouette cruise ship after the pot had been discovered by ship security.  The local police brought on a sniffer dog.  Here's the article:

"A quantity of drugs were recently removed from a cruise ship after being discovered by security personnel and handed over to the local police.

Information reaching SKNVibes indicates that sometime after 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday (Apr. 4) police were informed by the Security Manager of St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority, Raymond Cotton, that approximately two grams of what was suspected to be cannabis sativa were found aboard the M.V Celebrity Silhouette while docked at Port Zante.

Police arrived at Port Zante sometime after 8:30 a.m., a search was conducted and the drugs were found inside a cabin.

A dog from the Custom Canine Division was used to conduct further searches in the area where the cannabis was found but no more of the illegal drugs were located.  

No one was arrested."

For other ridiculous stories about cruise ships, pot and high times on the high seas, click on "Drugs" under "Topics" to the left.

Credit:  Hat tip to Professor Ross Klein who first reported on this story. 

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The Royal Gazette newspaper reports that a judge in Bermuda sentenced two U.S. cruise passengers to six years in jail each after trying to smuggle pot into Bermuda.

Bermuda Judge Carlisle Greaves sentenced the two female Carnival cruise passengers from Georgia, Alloah Releford, age 24, and Latoya Powell, age 27, for attempting to  smuggle in 2.7kg of cannabis resin into the country. 

The two women had sailed to Bermuda aboard the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship last year. 

The defense lawyers for the women argued for leniency, pointing out that Ms.Releford grew up as a child with both of her parents in jail.  Her mother died from lupus after being released from prison, leaving her to care for younger siblings as well as her own young children.  Ms. Powell was in debt $10,000 in medical bills for her daughter.

As is the case in Bermuda, the judge's sentencing and words for the two women were harsh:  

“Crybaby stories should not get them off easy.”

The women had been offered $5,000 each to smuggle the drugs to Bermuda.

We have written many articles about Bermuda's harsh attitude toward U.S. passengers involved in using or importing drugs:

Are You a Stoner? Don't Cruise to Bermuda!

Busted in Bermuda - Customs Officials Extort Money From Cruise Passengers By Unconstitutional Drug Searches

Bermuda Shakes Down Another Cruise Ship Pot Head

Here We Go Again - Bermuda Shakes Down Another Cruise Ship Pot Head

Photo Credit (bottom):  Akil Simmons / Royal Gazette

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Reefer madness, Belize style.  So you're a young  cruise passenger wanting to get high while visiting some of the ports you visit.  Certainly no one in a third world place like Belize will hassle you, right?

Wrong.

Consider the following news reports from Belize regarding the consequences of cruise passengers choosing to either buy pot or bring a few joints ashore while cruising to Belize. 

Channel 5 Belize reports of a young passenger who was spotted by the local police with a marijuana cigarette.  She quickly swallowed it as the cops moved in on her.

Witnesses say the two male officers choked her and dragged her on the ground in front of a crowd that was infuriated by the way she was manhandled.  After a day and a half in lockdown, she was charged with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice and harm against a police officer.  She pleaded not guilty to three charges and told the court that she was in shock about how she was treated.

The local magistrate told her that because she is not a Belizean, bail was not an option. 

Eventually, two of the charges were dropped and the cruise passenger was found guilty of obstruction of justice and fined two hundred and fifty dollars to be paid immediately or face jail.  The cashier had already closed for the day and she had to stay the weekend in jail until Monday when she can pay her fine.

In another incident, 7 News Belize reports that a cruise passenger to Belize was arrested for possession of 2.9 grams of pot two days ago. 

The passenger is a 21 year old American college student from Florida. The incident occurred around 4:30 P.M. on Tuesday at the Tourism Village where many passengers visit in Belize. 

A local magistrate fined the passenger $1,000 or in default serve one year in prison. 

2.9 grams probably cost him $25.  The racket in countries like this (Bermuda being the worst) is that no one will contest the legality of the search or the penalty when threatened will a year in jail for such a small amount of pot.    

You can read another similar situation involving a 25 year old cruise passenger in Belize here.  The  passenger faced a seven month sentence for 8 grams of pot because he did not have the funds to pay the fine. 

These local news outlets do a remarkably detailed job reporting these minor offenses while always publishing a photo of the U.S. citizen busted for pot.  In none of these stories did the newspapers identify the name of the cruise ship where the passengers came from.  

Hunting stoned cruise passengers seems to be a sport in Belize

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A newspaper in St. Kitts reports today that on Wednesday two U.S. passengers who arrived in St. Kitts aboard a cruise ship were arrested by local police for possessing pot.

The U.S. couple from Los Angeles were sailing on the Celebrity Eclipse when ship security was alerted to the possibility of passengers having marijuana in their cabin.  Ship security searched the couple's cabin and found pot.  St. Kitts police then arrested the passengers and took them to jail ashore.

One of the passengers reportedly admitted to purchasing marijuana on a beach when the cruise ship docked in St. Maarten the day before.  A local judge fined the passenger EC $5,000, which he reportedly paid immediately after the hearing.

The couple were not permitted to return to the cruise ship.  They spent the night in St. Kitts, and left the island the following day.  A fine of EC (East Caribbean currency) turns out to be around
US $1,850. 

Lots of the island countries which cruise ships frequent levy substantial fines for cruise passengers possessing small amounts of pot for recreational use.

I wish that the cruise ship security and local port police would show such vigor in arresting passengers and crew engaged in violent crimes on cruise ships.

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Four days ago, I wrote about the absurdity of Bermuda sending in customs agents with sniffer dogs onto cruise ships to conduct lawless searches for pot while the cruise passengers are vacationing ashore.   Bermuda engages in warrant-less random searches of unoccupied cabins, without any semblance of probable cause, and will even instruct the cruise line employees to open up locked safes when the passengers are ashore to search for a few marijuana cigarettes. 

Why?  U.S. passengers are easy marks.  No American charged with possession of a couple of joints will risk spending a couple of months when they can spend a couple of thousands of dollars and go home.  

Its easy money.    

I have written a half dozen article about this ridiculous situation.  You can read my last article here: Bermuda Shakes Down Another Cruise Ship Pot Head

Well, here we go again. Bermnews reports today that yesterday a 62 year old retired U.S. physician from New Jersey was arrested for possessing 8 grams of cannabis after Bermuda customs conducted a random and warrant-less search of the Norwegian Gem.  Magistrate Wolffe fined the passenger $2,000 to be paid immediately or the retired doctor would go to jail.

The fact that the passenger had no intention of taking the pot ashore, or that the pot was for his personal use locked in a safe, were was of no concern for the judicial system in Bermuda.  

Even the local citizens in Bermuda have figured out this is a scam.  Consider these comments to the newspaper article in Bermuda:  

"I can’t believe these customs officers are searching unoccupied cabins!!! This is nuts, crazy and stupid! We are losing tourists left right and center with these unethical searches. Stop it you idiots! Go find the heroin and crack!

Good work! We managed to wait in ambush for a 62 year old retiree and take him down for possession of a little bit of ganja! God knows that old geezer was a serious threat to our very existence out here in the Atlantic Ocean! Luckily we caught him before he had the chance to strike up another spliff, because the very foundation of our society would surely have crumbled! Guess who we’ll never see in Bermuda? Anyone who knows Mr.Reisen. They’ll go to some other island.

Very well put! a tourist wanting to smoke on vacation, heaven forbid they get the munchies and actually spend money in a Bermuda restaurant.

Once again an example of the colossal waste of time that is this island’s current drug policy.  Instead of devoting resources to tracking down gangbangers who are shooting it out in broad daylight we choose to instead employ a highly trained canine unit to search every cruise ship in order to invariably uncover marginal amounts of weed, wait around for hours until the master criminal returns, arrest them, then send the few grams of weed to a technician to be examined, then employ a team of prosecutors and a judge to waste valuable court time so that we can levy a fine on a 62 year old tourist. Bravo.

Again, no witness, no injured party . . . Please Bermuda-stop the madness . . ."

October 12 2011 Update:  Senior Magistrate Warner, who has raised the issue whether cruise ship pot busts are legal, "described it as “vexing” and “embarrassing” that tourists are charged for having small quantities of cannabis."  The magistrate made these comments as he sentenced a  28 year old crewmember from Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas a 12-month conditional discharge for possessing 5g of pot. 

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The Royal Gazette reports on Bermuda busting yet another U.S. cruise ship passenger for possessing a small amount of pot for personal use. 

This incident yesterday occurred when Bermuda customs officers brought their sniffer dogs aboard the Norwegian Dawn and busted a Massachusetts passenger for 8 grams of cannabis which was located in a safe in the passenger's cabin.

Bermuda customs officials arrested the NCL passenger - who incidentally was on this three year anniversary with his wife - and hauled him in front of a local criminal magistrate who fined him $2,000.

Drug sniffer dogs + small amounts of pot + quick fines for U.S. passengers = big business in Bermuda.  Doesn't seem to be anything called probable cause or an arrest warrant on this rocky island in the middle of the Atlantic.  

Cruise ships are a major source of drug trafficking in Bermuda.  Consider this Bermuda facebook page information:

"Illegal Substances and Drug Trafficking: Crews of cruise ships and drug couriers are the major importers.  There is a zero tolerance policy in Bermuda; penalties for not complying are very harsh in Bermuda for even the smallest amount (Forbes, 2011)."

Also consider the following articles in the last year:

Bermuda Customs, Cruise Ship Cabins & Illegal Searches = Easy U.S. Money $$$

Bermuda Continues Cruise Ship Drug Busts 

Busted in Bermuda - Customs Officials Extort Money From Cruise Passengers By Unconstitutional Drug Searches

High Times on the High Seas - Cruise Industry Struggles with "Reefer Madness" 

Are You a Stoner? Don't Cruise to Bermuda!

Royal Caribbean Passengers Busted For Drugs, Taser Gun in Bermuda

Cruise Ships & Drug Smuggling

Stay tuned.  Bermuda busts cruise passengers it seems almost weekly. 

But if a passenger or crew is raped or disappears on a Bermuda flagged cruise ship, Bermuda will never do anything.  It is too busy grabbing the easy money by busting Americans with a few joints stashed away in a safe in the cruise ship cabin.   

October 6, 2011 Update:  Cruise ship reefer madness contiues in Bermuda, another passenger with pot in a safe in the cruise ship cabin getrs busted -  Here We Go Again - Bermuda Shakes Down Another Cruise Ship Pot Head.

Photo credits:

Top:  Reefer Madness

Bottom:  REC 383/ GEOG 323 Bermuda

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Bernews reports that Bermuda Customs officials boarded the Norwegian Gem yesterday and search an unoccupied passenger cabin and seized 6 grams of pot. 

Magistrate Archie Warner, who we have blogged about before, fined the American cruise passenger $1,000 or 90 days prison if the fine was not paid immediately. 

6 grams is less than a 1/4 ounce of pot.  Something like 6 - 7 marijuana cigarettes. 

Bermuda loves busting Americans for small amounts of pot, even though the pot is in a locked cabin on the cruise ship and the passenger has no intention of taking it ashore.  Probable cause?  A warrant?  Apparently not necessary in Bermuda, at least not for cruise ships.  

Fining cruise passengers $1,000 to $3,000 is a major source of revenue for the island.  No U.S. passenger is going to sit in a jail for three months.  The customs officials and judges in Bermuda know it.  It's easy money.  Wait for the passengers to go ashore and then take the sniffer dogs from cabin to cabin when no one is there,

Last month I blogged about Magistrate Warner raising his eyebrows at these type of random, warrant-less searches.  He complained at a court hearing that it was only a matter of time before a victim of such an illegal search sued the customs officials and prosecutors for such conduct.  His concern for due process seems to be a temporary thought.

The blog I wrote Busted in Bermuda - Customs Officials Extort Money From Cruise Passengers By Unconstitutional Drug Searches was not well received by some of the citizens of Bermuda who commented on our blog.

Click on our "Drugs" category to the left.  You will see that most drug seizures are in Bermuda and involve tiny amount of marijuana for personal use.  We have written lots of articles like this, including: 

Are You a Stoner? Don't Cruise to Bermuda!

If you sail to Bermuda, you are free to drink like a fish on the cruise ship or in the bars ashore.  But if you sneak a little reefer on board, be prepared to be shaken down by the officials in Bermuda.  

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Yesterday the Bermuda Sun reported on two additional drugs busts involving both cruise passengers and crewmembers.

The Bermuda Sun reports that yet another cruise passenger was arrested with a small amount of marijuana in his cabin.  This arrest involved a 48 year old US tourist who was arrested after Customs officers from Bermuda entered his cabin.  The cruise passenger was present and admitted having six grams of cannabis in the cruise ship safe. Customs officers claim that they searched the cabin on the Celebrity Summit in Dockyard on August 17 after receiving an unidentified "tip-off."

Earlier this week I blogged about how Bermuda raises revenue by going onto cruise ships and searching for pot when there is no intention of the passengers taking it ashore.  A senior Magistrate questioned the legality of conducting random, warrant-less searches with no probable cause, as I mentioned in my article: Busted in Bermuda - Customs Officials Extort Money From Cruise Passengers By Unconstitutional Drug Searches

Magistrate Archibald Warner, who we reported on above questioning the legality of warrant-less random searches, nonetheless fined the passenger $1,000.

The Bermuda Sun also reported that  a crewmember from the Holland America Line (HAL) Veendam cruise ship was arrested on drugs charges.  Crewmember Dhimas Pradiptar allegedly conspired with unidentified "others" to bring approximately 340g of cannabis to Bermuda for purposes of selling the pot.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on $15,000 bail. He is scheduled to reappear at Magistrates’ Court on November 17th.

For more news on Bermuda and pot, don't forget to read: High Times on the High Seas - Cruise Industry Struggles with "Reefer Madness"

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The cruise industry is struggling with its own form of "reefer madness" over the last month.  Here's what has been happening in the weird world of cruise ship pot heads, dealers and smugglers.  

Bermuda Bust No. 1:   Earlier this week, customs agents in Bermuda arrested two Royal Caribbean crewmembers for importing cocaine into the islands on a cruise ship. 

Bernews reported that two Royal Caribbean crewmembers were charged with importing 200 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of just over $52,000 last week.

35 year old Clarence James, from St. Vincent, pleaded guilty to importing and conspiring to import after he was caught with the drugs in the soles of his shoes.  He initially claimed that another Royal Caribbean crewmember, 36 year old Jamaican Delroy Duncan, gave him the shoes to wear and he did not know that there were drugs in them.  Later, he claimed that Mr. Duncan told him to smuggle the drugs ashore.  Mr. Duncan denies he gave him drugs to take off the cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean employed Mr. James as a bartender and Mr. Duncan as a utility cleaner. 

Royal Caribbean has been in the news quite a bit in the last eight months with crew drug busts on the Explorer of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, and the Enchantment of the Seas.

Bermuda Bust No. 2:   The BDA Sun reports that two U.S. passenger were arrested on the Norwegian Jade when Bermuda police conducted random searched on the cruise ship while passengers were ashore.   They were sharing a cabin and had eight grams of pot. 

Bermuda Bust No. 3:  The BDA Sun also reports that last month a U.S. cruise passenger  from Connecticut was fined $800 for a small amount of pot which the Bermuda police obtained after searching the Celebrity Summit.  The police conducted random searches of passenger cabins with a sniffer dog.

Bermuda Bust No. 4:   The authorities in Bermuda arrested a 39 year old cruise tourist from New Jersey last month as well.   A sniffer dog found 13 cannabis cigarettes in the passenger's bedside table on board Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas.  The BDA Sun indicates that the passenger left the island after paying $3,000.

The authorities in Bermuda seemed skilled at violating the rights of cruise passenger by entering cabins without any pretense of probable cause to look for small amounts of pot.  I wonder if citizens in Bermuda have the right against unlawful searches and seizures?    

St. Thomas:   A Royal Caribbean passenger, Steven Barry Krumholz, recently admitted selling large quantities of ecstasy, methamphetamine and ketamine to fellow passengers during a cruise on board Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas during what was billed as the largest gay cruise in the world last February.  He had $51,000 on him when arrested.  

We blogged about the incident - Passenger Busted for Selling Drugs on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas.  It was one of the most read articles ever on Cruise Law News with around 270 people "liking" it on facebook or tweeting it on Twitter. 

Federal Chief District Judge Curtis Gomez set sentencing for November 2nd.  Unlike the passengers who were caught with a couple of joints, Mr. Krumholz is in a world of trouble.  The maximum sentence is 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Miami:   Perhaps the highest profile cruise related drug bust was last week when U.S. Customs officers arrested rapper "Big Boi," of the hip-hop duo "OutKast," on drug possession charges as he disembarked a cruise ship.  You can see his mugs shots here.  Seems like Big Boi or members of his posse like ecstasy and Viagra which is a crime to possess without a prescription. 

But unlike Bermuda where the customs officer entered passengers with dogs looking for drugs, in Miami the K-9 sniffer dogs got him after he left the cruise ship and was in the terminal. 

The interesting thing about all of these cases is that none of the drugs were found by the cruise line.  It makes you wonder about cruise ship security, doesn't it?  It seems easy to smuggle drugs past the shipboard security. The cruise ship security seem to be experts in confiscating your bottle of Chardonnay in your suitcase to keep liquor sales up for the revenue department.  But they don't seem interested in your reefer. 

The port authorities, especially in Bermuda, are a different matter.  They love to bust Americans, particularly U.S. passengers with just a quarter ounce of pot back in the cabin for personal use.  

God forbid that a stoned cruise passenger enter the port and wander around eating brownies and a big bag of Doritos.  

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The cops in Bermuda love to bust American tourists with small amounts of pot, even if the pot never leaves the cruise ship. 

In April, I wrote an article about Bermudan customs officers and police who boarded a cruise ship with a drug sniffing dog and found seven homemade cigarettes in the passenger cabin's safe.  The cruise passenger was fined $3,000.  The newspapers in Bermuda are quick to identify the names and ages of the American tourists and photograph them, but they avoid mentioning the name of the cruise ship or cruise line, issues I talked about in my blog The Bermuda Press and the Cruise Industry - See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.

In October 2009, a cruise passenger was busted for pot when a Bermudan customs sniffer dog found 12 joints of marijuana during a search of the cruise ship, while the ship was in port in St. George's.  The cruise passenger pled guilty to importing drugs into Bermuda, which is difficult to understand because the joints were discovered in the passenger's luggage inside his cabin on the cruise ship.

In May of 2010, two cruise passengers were arrested by Bermudan police officers who boarded the cruise ship and searched the ladies' cabin. They found a plastic bag with 6.68 grams of cannabis. The Court in Bermuda fined them $500 each for possessing marijuana, even though it was for their personal use and they did not try to bring the reefer ashore.

Well, the Bermudan authorities have now stepped enforcement up.  They have been enjoying a field day in the last month arresting Americans with small amounts of pot.

The Sun newspaper in Bermuda reports last week that a cruise passenger from a cruise ship (the newspaper chose not to mention its name) was fined $2,500 for possessing 10 grams of cannabis.  Bermudan customs officers boarded the ship and found a small bag of pot and partially smoked cigarettes.

Arguing to a court in Bermuda that the pot is for medicinal purposes will make the matter worse, as two American women learned in separate incidents. 

According to the Sun newspaper, Teresa Sheridan, 53, of Oregon was arrested last month at the airport in Bermuda when customs officials found a bag with just three grams of cannabis.  She claimed that she smoked pot as treatment for depression.  The court was not impressed and imposed a fine of $2,000.   

A worst fate met U.S. tourist Edith Lord Wolffe, 59, who was also arrested last month at the airport in Bermuda.  Customs officials found 14 homemade marijuana cigarettes in her luggage. 

Her lawyer argued for leniency.  Ms. Wolffe was from California where pot has been de-criminalized.  She smokes marijuana for her Ménière's disease.  The lawyer informed the court that she has a prescription for the marijuana from her doctor as she suffers from the chronic illness.  He presented the court with a copy of a medical certificate with the illness and prescription outlined on it to treat the medical condition.  According to the Sun newspaper, the court responded:  “I am of the view that this matter calls for an immediate custodial sentence.”  The court fined Ms. Wolffe $3,000 plus 30 days in jail.

Bermuda has a strange sense of priorities.  It has a pitiful record investigating the disappearances of crew members or prosecuting violent crimes, such as rape, on Bermuda flagged cruise ships, as we have written about before.  If you are a sexual predator on a Bermudan flagged ship, no policeman from Bermuda will ever bother you. 

But if you are a stoner who cruises to Bermuda and have a few joints stashed back on the cruise ship in your luggage, prepared to be arrested, fined and perhaps incarcerated. 

And don't tell the judge that pot is legal in California and you get high for medical reasons . . .   

June 27, 2011 Update:  The Royal Gazette newspaper reports that a "cruise ship drug smuggler" was sentenced to two and one-half years in prison for delivering "cannabis residue" to Bermuda and collecting $7,000.  His companion was fined $1,000.  As usual, this newspaper did not mention the name of the cruise line or cruise ship. 

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The Royal Gazette newspaper reports that the police in Bermuda arrested two American cruise passengers for a small amount of pot and a Taser gun in their cruise ship cabin. 

Passengers Virginians Kymberly Taylor and Shayla Reid were sailing aboard Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas.  After the cruise ship arrived in Bermuda, police officers boarded the cruise ship and searched the ladies' cabin.  They found a plastic bag with 6.68 grams of cannabis and a five-inch Taser gun.

The Court in Bermuda fined them $500 each for possessing marijuana, even though it was for their personal use and they did not try to bring the reefer ashore.  Ms. Taylor received an additional $1,000 fine for possession of the Taser gun.

We have reported on drug arrests in Bermuda before.  The island is very strict when it comes to prosecuting U.S. passengers.

Ironically, Bermuda does a deplorable job investigating violent crimes or mysterious disappearances which may implicate cruise ships which fly the flag of Bermuda.  But Bermuda loves busting U.S. passenger for minor drug possession on cruise ships porting in Bermuda.  Take a moment and read about Bermuda's indifference to crimes on Bermuda flagged cruise ships.

The more serious issue is the Taser gun in the cabin.  Its disturbing that the cruise line's security did not detect it. 

Interested in this issue?  Consider reading: Cruise Ships & Drug Smuggling  

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Cruise ships are routinely used by both passengers and crew members to smuggle drugs.  Two recent newspaper articles from the Royal Gazette in Bermuda point this out.

Today, the newspaper reports that a passenger aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's (NCL) Norwegian Dawn was sentenced to seven years in prison in Bermuda for smuggling 5,048 grams of marijuana, with a street value of $252,000. 

U.S. passenger Anthony Issac brought the drugs to the Island in a suitcase aboard the NCL cruise ship.  A  "friend" of his paid him $10,000 to go on vacation and to drop the suitcase off in Bermuda.  The NCL passenger, a 34 year-old truck driver from the Bronx, apologized to the court in Bermuda.  He explained that he smuggled the reefer because he was "experiencing financial problems and  thought the money would help."

A couple of months ago, the Royal Gazette reported that a NCL cruise ship employee was jailed  for attempting to import more than $12,000 worth of cannabis into Bermuda. Crew member, Elroy Bent Brackman from Columbia, was offered $500 to import the drug while working aboard NCL cruise ship Norwegian Dawn. He had been caught smoking weed in his cabin, which led to a search.  

Like the NCL passenger, the crew member claims that he given $500 in New York if he would bring smuggle the marijuana on the cruise ship.  The court in Bermuda sentenced him to two-and-a-half years' in jail.

In November 2006, another NCL crew member Teeteta Lereria was sentenced to five years after trying to smuggle cannabis and heroin valued at more than $311,000 into Bermuda. She was employed as a cleaner aboard NCL's Norwegian Spirit.

Many of the crew members, particularly "cleaners" who do not earn tips, earn as little as $535 a month.  Working as much as 85 hours a week, their wages turn out to be less than $1.60 an hour.  Whereas this does not  justify criminal conduct, low wage employees are susceptible to being used as drug mules.  

The presence of drugs on cruise ships, particularly smuggled by the crew, raises a concern of violence between crew members.  This problem may also be behind the "disappearance" of crew members over the years - stories which have largely been ignored by the U.s. media. 

A search of the Royal Gazette's archives reveals that many passengers have also been arrested or fined for bringing marijuana into Bermuda. 

October 26, 2009 Update:

The Bermuda Royal Gazette reports today that another NCL passenger was busted for pot.  This time it was aboard NCL's cruise ship, Norwegian Majesty.  A Bermuda Customs sniffer dog found 12 joints of marijuana during a search of the cruise ship, while the ship was in port in St. George's.

The cruise passenger is an American, Frank Brazinski from Pennsylvania.  The joints were discovered in the passenger's luggage inside his cabin.  Not sure I understand how this resulted in a charge of importing drugs into Bermuda. The passenger pled guilty.

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