A passenger on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas was arrested on Tuesday at PortMiami for possession of cell phone video of a man raping a child, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO). Local 10 News reported that federal agents received a “suspicious activity report“ about cruise passenger Basilios Grayeb, 29, of Haifa, Israel, regarding ”the purchasing of child sexual abuse material.”
According to MDSO, a customs officer then conducted a search of Grayeb’s cellphone after he arrived at the port in Miami.
According to the Times of Israel, local police and federal agents, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, went to the Royal Caribbean ship Freedom of the Seas and took Grayeb into custody, instead of waiting for him to pass through border checks at the passenger terminal.
Deputies read Grayeb his Miranda rights but he nonetheless “provided a confession” during an interrogation.
Grayeb was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, where he was being held on a $2,500 bond as of Tuesday morning. ICE also placed an immigration hold on Grayeb, in case it decides to federally prosecute him or initiate deportation from the United States.
Cruise passengers and crew members are regularly arrested for child sexual abuse materials when cruises return to U.S. ports. There have been well over 100 passengers and crew members arrested for child pornography which they took with them during cruises in the last year.
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Image credit: Freedom of the Seas – Kiran891 – CC BY-SA 4.0, commons / wikimedia; Basilios Grayeb – Miami Dade Sheriff’s Office