The arrested passengers - Natalie Ellen Quinn, 26, from Rochdale, Lancashire, Camille Danielle, 19, from Handsworth, Birmingham, Calvin Neil Hylton, 41, from Manchester, and Briony Marie Dyce, 25, also from Handsworth – were charged with importing Class A drugs at Southampton Magistrates Court yesterday. They were remanded in custody.$3 million worth of illegal drugs has been seized during a raid on a cruise ship in the English port city of Southampton.Customs officials arrested seven people during the raid on the P and O ship Arcadia, an 11-deck boat with room for nearly 2,000 passengers.Four of those arrested had a total of 30 kilograms of cocaine strapped to their bodies.They have appeared in court charged with trying to smuggle the drug.
None of the seven involved were crew members. A P and O spokeswoman said the ship had just returned to Southampton from a 23-night cruise to the Caribbean.The company is cooperating with the police and has made no further comment. drugs were reportedly found strapped to the three women and one man as they disembarked from the P&O ship Arcadia at Southampton.The liner had just returned from a 23-day cruise of the Caribbean, with island stops on Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada and Barbados.
More than 8.8lb (30kg) of cocaine was discovered, making it the largest cruise ship drugs seizure in Britain, police believe. Three more people were arrested in the dock car park and surrounding areas.The large haul raises fears that criminal gangs are exploiting the light security of cruise ships as a new way of trafficking drugs into Britain."They have the whole day on an island, giving them plenty of time to pick up any drugs, and then plenty of time to conceal it when they get back on board," he said.The three other people arrested near the docks have been bailed.
Passengers paid up to £5,000 for a place on Arcadia's Caribbean cruise. The ship boasts a three-tier theatre, glass elevators offering a view of the ocean, and a spa. "Everything about Arcadia is indulgent," the P&O website says.
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