Five crew members were arrested in Tampa when the NCL Norwegian returned from Roatan where the crew members smuggled the drugs. The Tampa Bay Times identified the crew members as Jason Leon Carmichael (age 21), Arkine John (21), Alfred Kernel Ince (24), Teffan Delice (29), and Johnson Cherubin, (30). The Hillsborough County booking records indicate that they work for NCL as utility workers in the Norwegian Sun’s galley.

The Tampa Bay Times said that four of the crew members concealed seven kilos of cocaine in spandex underwear. FBI spokesperson said customs officials were suspicious of ship workers Jason Carmichael, Arkine John, Alfred Ince, Teffan Delice and Johnson Cherubin as they left the ship in Tampa.

Investigators tracked them where an exchange was alleged to have taken place where the crew members needed to give the drugs to two woman. The men were allegedly found to be in possession of more than $40,000 in cash and Western Union receipts for currency transfers. 

The women were later apprehended driving on Interstate 75 by the Pasco County Sherrif’s office. The women were identified as Simone Natoya Walters (34) and Semarie Gailann Paul (39).

The crew members admitted to officials that they had picked up the packages in March 3 in Roatan, Honduras, and smuggled them aboard the ship in their Spandex underwear, the affidavit said.

The five men, along with two women who were found in possession of the cocaine, remain in federal custody.