A Chicago man has been federally indicted for allegedly making a bomb threat involving a cruise ship traveling from the Bahamas. Daquan Lamont Smith, 20, faces one count of interstate transmission of a threat and up to five years in federal prison if convicted.
Smith pleaded not guilty to the charges on September 9.
Smith made the threat on December 6, 2025, according to a press release by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. During a recorded call, Smith allegedly stated, “I’m on the cruise boat coming from Bahamas that left two days ago, and I’m letting you guys know now I have a bomb on the boat and I want to blow it up.“
Federal prosecutors did not identify the cruise line or the ship involved in the alleged threat. However, we obtained several documents identifying Disney Cruise Line as the cruise line he called.
Smith’s Conditions of Release states that he must avoid all contact with any person involved with Disney Cruise Line. A separate document from the FBI lists Disney Cruise Line as a victim. The Orlando Sentinel also reports that the threat was made to Disney Cruise Line.
Prosecutors say Smith was physically located in Chicago when he made the call. Smith told investigators that he made the bomb threat out of frustration after he had received spam phone calls throughout the day and that Disney Cruise Line happened to be the last entity to call him.
The FBI investigated the case, which is now being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Orlando. Smith’s attorney has asked for the case to be transferred to Illinois, arguing that Smith was in Chicago when he allegedly made the call.
The Department of Justice did not state whether passengers or crew were evacuated as a result of the threat.
Bomb threats and explosive devices have long been treated as a security risk involving cruise ships and ports. In 2017, we reported on counter-terrorism teams scanning cruise ships and docks for explosive devices before vessels entered ports in New York and New Jersey. The security measures included radiation-detection equipment and sonar used to search for potential explosive or radiological threats.