Cruise passenger fined $1,000 over ammunition
MS Monarch, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises
(CNS): Narciso Barrios was fined $1,000 when he appeared in court Friday in connection with the discovery of three live rounds of .22 calibre ammunition in his bag at the cruise dock in George Town this week. Barrios, who is from Panama, was a passenger on the Monarch, which was here on Wednesday. He was detained after the ammunition appeared on the x-ray at the ship’s security checkpoint when he tried to return to the ship after coming ashore.
He was handed over to customs seaport officers and an investigation was carried out by the Customs Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET), officials said. The officers learned that Barrios is a licensed firearm holder in Panama, where he has .22 rifle.
But as he apologized to the officers, he said the gun, which he has for agricultural purposes, had not been used for a long time and he did not know how long the bullets had been in his bag. He was charged and fined but no conviction was recorded.
While security staff often find bullets in passengers’ bags at the airport, especially from the United States, it is far less common at the cruise port.
Customs reminded the public it t is a very serious offence to be in possession of or import any ‘firearm’ without a firearms user’s licence in Cayman. The officials explained that ammunition that is capable of being used in any firearm is also defined as a ‘firearm’ in the law and it is the responsibility of travellers who have a licence in their own country to ensure that any firearm is properly declared and turned over to customs. They asked members of the public who have information relating to these types of offences or other crimes not to hesitate to contact the Customs Department.
Collector of Customs Charles Clifford thanked the security personnel who remain vigilant in assisting with the discovery of such dangers. “We cannot take for granted any such find when we look at the latest tragic situation that occurred at the Fort Lauderdale Airport recently,” he added.
Meanwhile, immigration confirmed that a passenger who was turned away from Cayman at Owen Roberts International on 31 January was not related to the US travel ban from seven predominantly Muslim nations that was implemented by the Trump administration.
“We refused entry to a passenger today who arrived on Jet Blue from New York,” officials said in a short release. “The passenger did not meet landing requirements. The passenger refused to board the flight to return home. The matter was not related to any new policies or travel bans enacted by the Trump administration in the USA.”
Was this a local Security firm/Port Police that made this discovery or was this part of the ship’s crew? Perhaps this detection method needs to be beefed up?????This incident seems to suggest that firearms could be smuggled on island this way
Meanwhile…at Fete nightclub.
Fine should have 15 times the amount charged……….all the time spent on arresting, investigating, searching etc…..paid for by the residence of these Islands….
The fine levels across the board require a serious increase in order to be seen as a deterrent. This is for brining in illegal bullets, traffic offenses, failure to pay pension for employees, you name it. Those few hundred dollars of fine is a joke!
Every tourist who comes with ammunition should be jailed for at least a token period. Every one of them arrogant and selfish enough to turn up with a gun should do a year.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Let anyone enter the US with ammunition in their luggage and see what happens. They are too lenient here. This is happening too often and a stop must be put to it. Complete foolishness!
I wonder if they (RCIPS) have thought of the possibility that these people are actually coming in with more than they leave (i.e. to import and sell) because it now seems to be a weekly occurrence from multiple jurisdictions via different modes of travel i.e. plane, boat and cruise ship.
Furthermore it also seems that they are sending the message to the world that you can come to our shores with guns / ammo in your possession but if you forgot they were there all you have to say is “oops I forgot they were there” and you get sent on your merry way.
Please, you really think there is a worldwide conspiracy of arms dealers willing to smuggle ammunition in to Cayman, for a few hundred dollars profit per trip (that costs thousands), then get caught by the inevitable x-ray scans for one or two left over rounds, worth a few dollars at most.
“Sent on their merry way” with a court appearance, $1000 fine and risk of jail time.
Really?
No world conspiracy but maybe small time arms dealings from other countries such as Honduras yes, much like it is known by international criminals that robberies are easily committed here. Have you seen the CCTV footage of the Camana Bay robbery for instance as an example?
No, I haven’t seen it. Where can I find it?
Why would the US care? You can buy ammunition at Walmart or Sears. The US is a major producer of ammunition and anyone can buy it.
Yeah, lets round up these weapon smugglers (AKA, unwitting tourists) and lock them up for the 10 year mandatory sentence, costing us $70,000 per year. Brilliant idea!
Or did I mean “complete foolishness”.?
Authorities seem to catch every single bullet a tourist brings in yet we have shootings every weekend. When was the last time they actually stopped a gun or ammo intended for criminal activity from entering the island?
They recovered a firearm locally a couple weeks ago when the father son duo tried to run the boys. The RCIPS finds a good amount of firearms on the island, the prison is filled with people serving the seven year mandatory minimum sentence.
They don’t catch them coming in – they catch them leaving!