P&O's Arcadia - Drugs found on ship

Well, that was a bit of a shock...NOT! It was just a matter of time before someone was caught trying to smuggle drugs on a cruise ship.

For those who have not heard the story. The BBC news reported yesterday that seven people had been taken into custody off the P&O cruise ship Arcadia after 30 kg of drugs were found strapped to their bodies.  The latest reports from the BBC say that four people have been charged, aged 19, 25, 26 and 41.

How stupid could these supposed drugs carriers have been? The three younger people would have stood out on Arcadia like a sore thumb, especially if they were not related. The demographic of P&O line is 50+ and couples. The exception to this is the school holidays when a lot of children travel. Not on Arcadia though - she's a child-free ship.

But I've travelled many times from Southampton and I have yet to see customs officers stop people coming from a cruise ship. I have a theory that sniffer dogs must have smelt the drugs on their cases. If the accused had handled packets of drugs, then the residue would have been all over their hands and transferred to anything they touched or carried, including their suitcases. Once these cases were found by sniffer dogs in the port, then it was a case of finding the owners of the cases!

As I said at the beginning, I am not surprised by this drugs heist. Even though there is a clamp down on security on board ship, I feel that almost anything can be carried in bags on ships and no-one would notice or care. For drugs runners to disguise themselves as cruise passengers would be easy for a small amount of drugs. 

One piece of advice though for any future drug traffickers... do your homework about the cruise line and choose the right age of people!!!!