Personal Injury Law

Cocaine Bust on Cruise Ship in England

By Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina, P.A.

British news outlets are reporting authorities have made a sizeable drug bust on the Italian ship MSC Opera. The ship was visiting the Port of Dover in England, on its way from Brazil to Amsterdam.

The reports say eight Latvian and Lithuanian passengers on the ship were arrested and more than $2 million worth of cocaine was seized.

According to Kent Online, the cocaine, about 35 kilos in total, was discovered in passenger cabins. British authorities are still investigating.

This is the second such big drug bust on a cruise ship in England this year. In March, in Southampton, U.K. Border Authorities arrested two Spanish passengers on the Black Watch, a ship operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

Those two pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges -- they were alleged to have tried to hide $10 million worth of cocaine in their pants -- and were coincidentally sentenced just this week by a British judge to 12 years in prison.

Full post as published by Cruise Ship Law on May 26, 2010 (boomark / email).