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Most people who go on a cruise board the ship looking forward to a fairly carefree getaway. However, there are some ways your trip can end up taking a turn for the worse—like being hauled off to jail because you jumped overboard in a shortsighted attempt to avoid a five-figure gambling debt you managed to accrue while coasting in international waters.
Cruise ships are known for being floating amusement parks that offer passengers plenty of options when it comes to entertaining themselves over the course of their voyage.
People looking to chill by the pool with a drink, enjoy a gourmet dinner, catch a live show, or splurge on a shopping spree are typically able to check all of those boxes while aboard, and that’s just a sampling of the many routes you can take.
Many cruise lines also take advantage of the lack of regulations that come with operating in international waters by operating casinos aboard their ships. That includes Royal Caribbean, which oversaw a recent voyage that ended with a passenger being arrested after allegedly jumping off a ship to try to duck some sizeable gambling losses.
A Royal Caribbean passenger was charged with a federal crime after running into some issues while gambling on a cruise ship
Royal Caribbean currently operates close to 30 cruise ships. That includes the Rhapsody of the Sea, which embarked from San Juan, Puerto Rico on August 31st for a seven-day, round-trip excursion throughout the Southern Caribbean.
The ship returned to port on September 7th, and according to CBS News, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials were conducting the screening that passengers must go through before they’re allowed to disembark when things took an interesting turn after a man jumped from the vessel and into the water.
The man in question, identified as Jey Gonzalez-Diaz, was subsequently hauled out of the water by an apparent accomplice who transported him to shore on the back of a jet ski. However, border patrol was quickly able to track him down near the Puerto Rico Capitol Building in San Juan and conducted a search that showed he was in possession of “$14,600 in cash, two phones, and five ID.”
Gonzalez-Diaz, who booked the cruise under the name Jeremy Diaz, told the officers who detained him that he was trying to avoid paying duties on the money in his possession (anyone entering the United States with more than $10,000 in cash is required to disclose the full amount due to excise tax).
However, things took a turn when Royal Caribbean informed investigators he owed them $16,710.24 that was “almost exclusively associated to Casino and Gaming expenses,” which suggested he had some extra incentive to avoid drawing any unwanted attention to himself.
However, that strategy obviously backfired, and Gonzalez-Diaz was charged with attempting to avoid monetary reporting requirements—a federal crime that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine that maxes out at $250,000.