drug smugglers on Black watch

[bossmum1]

Fred Olsen Cruises' Black Watch liner served as the dramatic backdrop for a drugs bust this week, after two passengers were caught allegedly attempting to smuggle cocaine into the country.

 

The man and woman, both from Surrey, were arrested by UK Border Agency officials after they disembarked the luxury cruise ship at Southampton docks.

 

HM Revenue and Customs is currently investigating the case and revealed that cocaine with an estimated street value of £70,000 was recovered from the cruise passengers.

 

With cruise ships such as the Black Watch visiting exotic locales all over the world, it appears that the allure of smuggling drugs or contraband on them can be quite strong for thieves.

[Parsman]

Not the first time this has occurred on cruise ships. Two smugglers who had trvelled on another cruise line received severe sentences last year. If found guilty I hope they throw the book at them. This is an evil trade with greedy people living off the addiction of too many people.

[Robbo123]

In all honesty if you disembark in some places, Dover for example, the customs is often not manned, so great temptation

 

Last time we sailed into Southampton there were customs on duty but they hardly stopped anyone at all - so the temptation would have to be there.

 

No doubt this will affect us all now, as we will all be subject to more checks now

[merecat]

What gets me ,how did they smuggle that lot on board ,everything goes through the scanner ,I,m sure someone must have picked that up.

 

However they do seem rather a young couple to be on BW as passengers.:)

[Robbo123]

They can be disguised through the scanner - and the scanner they are only looking for metal objects it seems, but if a few brought a bit on, who knows.

 

Talking about ages outside the scope of FO, David and Sheila think you know who comes to mind from our last cruise

 

Steve & Jan

[motorcar48]

You must congratulate Customs for catching these people, an understaffed resourse who can only use their expierience on who to stop.

We need customs to send out the signal to these morons that cruise ships are not an easy route, the last thing we need is for everyone having to be checked, how many days would that take coming off Oasis of the Seas.

I know what Robbo 123 (Steve) means about the people on our last cruise looking totally out of place.

Ref Merecats comment, our bags go through the x-ray but we don't, what are the ships security trained to look for (booze)?

 

David

[glitterbabe]

We have recently come off the Balmoral Canada/USA cruise and our bags did not go the scanner once on our return to the ship. We therefore suspect that all that is being looked for is booze as previously mentioned! It was more expensive in the ports and towns we visited than on board. This was our 14th (I think) cruise with FO and we have always had our bags checked upon returning to the ship without fail!

[bermic]

What causes me concern is that if we are travelling with these type of people,what safeguard have we got when we leave our luggage outside our cabins on the last night of a cruise with only flimsy locks on them.If these people want to smuggle their drugs ashore without getting caught,what better way but to secrete their drugs in someone elses luggage and get ashore quickly the following morning and reclaim their drugs after remembering the cabin number on the case.If they are lucky they will be long gone before you arrive to claim your damaged luggage,if the luggage has been caught by customs,you may have to answer some awkward questions.:confused:

[swanseajack]

What causes me concern is that if we are travelling with these type of people,what safeguard have we got when we leave our luggage outside our cabins on the last night of a cruise with only flimsy locks on them.If these people want to smuggle their drugs ashore without getting caught,what better way but to secrete their drugs in someone elses luggage and get ashore quickly the following morning and reclaim their drugs after remembering the cabin number on the case.If they are lucky they will be long gone before you arrive to claim your damaged luggage,if the luggage has been caught by customs,you may have to answer some awkward questions.:confused:

On my recent trip I saw that a few cases were placed outside cabin doors many hours before they needed to be, then the main bulk of luggage appeared around the 4 hour slot advised, 22.00 - 02.00, for collection. After that, when luggage is taken away, who knows what happens to it? Is it stored in secure condions, I wonder? There is plenty of opportunity to tamper with luggage in this situation, as you have pointed out!

[motorcar48]

I don't think swanseajack wants the answer, but I'll tell him anyway.

I sailed back into Southampton on Boudicca and was up on deck before we docked.

There on the aft deck, admittedley under a tarp, was a mountain of suitcases, they were unloaded in cages by crane, you can only assume they had been there most of the night.

Others were unloaded through the side of the ship on a conveyor belt.

[swanseajack]

I don't think swanseajack wants the answer, but I'll tell him anyway.

I sailed back into Southampton on Boudicca and was up on deck before we docked.

There on the aft deck, admittedley under a tarp, was a mountain of suitcases, they were unloaded in cages by crane, you can only assume they had been there most of the night.

Others were unloaded through the side of the ship on a conveyor belt.

 

I had no idea what the arrangements are so this is useful to know, not least because my smart new cases are made of treated fabric, rather than plastic, so I am grateful that they survived their overnight ordeal!

[Scots Caz]

I was on the Black Watch a few years back and they had used the pool (then empty) to store them....someone must have pressed a wrong button somewhere but it did not stay empty and there were a lot of soggy cases and insurance claims....