Joint CBP, ICE Inspection Nets Cruise Ship Heroin, Cocaine

CBP K-9 Sniffs out Nearly $100k in Dangerous Drugs on Enchantment of the Seas

Baltimore – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) K-9, during a joint CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations inspection, discovered more than two pounds of cocaine and heroin stored in a locker aboard the cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas in Baltimore on Saturday.

CBP officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents discovered nearly 2.5 pounds of heroin and cocaine combined inside an equipment locker during a joint inspection of the cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas in Baltimore Jan. 8, 2011. The three duct-taped drug packages, sniffed out by a CBP K-9, has an estimated street value of nearly $100,000.

“The recent drug arrests of cruise ship crewmen illustrate the measures nefarious narcotics networks will take to transport their deadly poison into the United States,” said CBP Baltimore Port Director Ricardo Scheller. “International passenger vessels are a prime target of opportunity. CBP remains committed to working with ICE and our other law enforcement partners to sniff out potential narcotics highways and to keep Americans safe.”

CBP routinely conducts K-9 enforcement inspections aboard passenger cruise ships as one deterrent to narcotics smuggling.

“CBP continues to work with cruise line security officers to implement security measures and to help identify high-risk crewmen and passengers,” Scheller said.

CBP identifies high-risk passengers and crewman similarly to how the agency identifies high-risk international airline passengers and crew. CBP conducts arrivals inspections of all landed citizens and non-citizens arriving from international destinations to enforce customs, immigration and agriculture laws.

Sometimes CBP discovers a passenger with an outstanding arrest warrant or who possesses illegal narcotics.

On Sunday, CBP officers fined a cruise ship Carnival Pride passenger a $500 Zero Tolerance penalty for possessing marijuana. The passenger paid the fine and was released.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.