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"