A now fired Florida deputy named Francisco Melo possible thought he could be partying on a themed “Groove Cruise” that’s presently happening onboard Royal Caribbean’s Attract of the Seas. Nonetheless, the 36-year-old cop by no means really made it onboard the Oasis-class ship.
As a substitute, he was arrested within the Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal (Cruise Terminal A) by the Miami-Dade Police Power for allegedly attempting to smuggle narcotic capsules onboard by hiding them in baggage of Skittles, which he deliberate to promote in the course of the voyage.
The particular crusing, which embarked from PortMiami on January 23, 2025, and lasts till January 27, 2025, is a music competition at sea that options unique artist hosted actions and digital dance music (EDM) events.
The itinerary for the brief crusing primarily consisted of sea days, with a name on Labadee, Haiti – Royal Caribbean’s personal vacation spot – on January 25, 2025.
In response to CBS Information Miami, drug sniffing canine had been introduced into the cruise port and alerted authorities to the roughly 60 MDMA capsules (generally referred to as ecstasy or molly) within Melo’s baggage.
The six-year veteran of the legislation was promptly taken into custody by the sheriff’s workplace that after employed him. He was relieved of responsibility and charged with the possession, sale, and trafficking of a managed substance.
“As sheriff, it’s my responsibility to guarantee that our group can belief our deputies to guard them and uphold the legislation. I’m disenchanted to tell you that one in all my deputies has been arrested for trafficking a managed substance,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz mentioned in a press release.
“Narcotics don’t simply hurt those that use them, they devastate households, and gas crime. Nobody is above the legislation, and this workplace won’t tolerate legal conduct from anybody, particularly these entrusted to implement it. The actions of this particular person are a betrayal of the general public belief and of all of the deputies who work tirelessly to guard our group,” continued Cordero-Stutz.
Melo has since been launched on bond pending additional authorized proceedings. Royal Caribbean has not commented on the investigation or the arrest.
Cruise Visitors By no means in Hazard
The as much as 5,484 passengers onboard Attract of the Seas – or these passing by means of PortMiami’s eight different passenger terminals on January 23 – had been by no means in any hazard.
In actual fact, authorities already knew that Melo was planning to embark on the chartered crusing – and suspected that he could be as much as one thing nefarious.
In December of 2024, investigators arrange an undercover operation by which Melo allegedly bought an undercover informant 12 MDMA capsules for $240 – throughout which his upcoming cruise plans additionally got here to gentle.
Subsequently, native authorities and the Royal Caribbean safety workforce had been already looking out for the accused drug supplier – which resulted within the arrest.
“This arrest is the results of a collaborative effort between the MDSO, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Miami-Dade State Lawyer Workplace’s Public Corruption Prosecution Unit, who’re dedicated to upholding the integrity and sustaining the general public belief in legislation enforcement inside Miami-Dade County,” mentioned Sheriff Cordero-Stutz.
Learn Additionally: Are Cruises Protected? What You Actually Have to Know
As all the time, security is all the time the highest precedence for the entire cruise strains – together with Royal Caribbean. That is why all friends and crew members – not simply suspected deviants – need to bear thorough safety checks and doc verification previous to boarding their cruise ship.
Some cruise strains even carry out background checks on their incoming friends – which can uncover present warrants. If an lively warrant is discovered, the suitable authorities could also be notified.
That is possible what occurred to Dominic Weaver, who was just lately arrested in PortMiami whereas disembarking his cruise ship in December 2024 – after efficiently avoiding authorities for greater than a decade. He allegedly owed greater than $100,000 in again youngster help.
Nonetheless, it’s unclear which cruise line the 47-year-old had sailed with and there have been no experiences of him inflicting issues whereas onboard.
If a passenger is discovered to be a menace to themselves or others in the course of the crusing, the onboard safety workforce members are skilled to shortly subdue the visitor – doubtlessly even confining them to their cabin or locking them within the brig (or onboard jail).
Whereas legal exercise is often low within the cruising group, the cruise strains do take swift motion when incidents come up.
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