Police at the French port of Marseille arrested two passengers aboard the MSC Seaside cruise ship who were reportedly carrying 12 kilos of cocaine in their luggage. This is a second drug bust on the MSC Seaside during the transatlantic voyage from Brazil, following the arrest of 10 cruise passengers in Valencia for smuggling 54 kilos of cocaine.
During a ship inspection on April 4, the police in Marseille discovered 12kg of cocaine hidden in suitcases.
The police arrested two young Brazilians who were posing as a couple during the cruise. After embarking in Rio de Janeiro on the MSC Seaside, sailing from one port to another in the Mediterranean, Tayrana and Joao stopped over in Marseille. A city that the couple will not leave anytime soon. Boarding the ship for an unexpected check, customs officers' sniffer dog stopped in front of stateroom 9185, and better still, fuss over the luggage of its occupants. And for good reason: in the middle of swimsuits, flip-flops and T-shirts, 12 kg of cocaine had been concealed. The drugs estimated value at 500,000 euros, was destined for Italy, police said.
The man and woman, in their 20s, were cooperative with the authorities after their arrest. The French news outlet BFM Marseille reports that Tayrana, a previous cleaning woman, said that she met Joao at a party, after being fired "for having refused the advances of her boss", After trusting his money-related issues the young man, offered to pretend to be his spouse and "go on a voyage in Europe"
This role-playing game would have earned them between 6,000 and 7,000 euros each.
"She knew she was carrying something illegal, but not necessarily cocaine. She did not open her suitcases. The instructions were to go to Genoa and collect the money in a hotel and hand over the narcotics", specifies Me Brice Grazzini for La Provence.
The couple told agents they were not the only ones role-playing in that vessel. Two other passengers were also unmasked in Valencia, Spain. Tayrana and Joao got two-year jail sentence for trafficking narcotics.
