Breaking: More drugs found on cruise ship

by Chris Owen on

UPDATE: Less than a month ago we told you about the cruise line crew accused of smuggling drugs into the Port of Baltimore. Now we have learned that authorities found more drugs on the same ship.

When U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents boarded Royal Caribbean International’s Enchantment of the Seas Tuesday, they had good reason. Last month agents found 700 grams of heroin and 300 grams of cocaine hidden in the waistband and shoes of the crew member, The drugs had been picked up from a Jamaican man in the Dominican Republic, brought on to the ship, to be sold once they reached the United States.

“If we already encountered an incident where drugs were discovered on the ship, we’re more than likely going to take another look at the vessel further down the road,” Steve Sapp, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the Baltimore Sun.

In this discovery, $94,000 worth of cocaine was found wrapped in duct tape by a drug-sniffing dog in a common area of the ship, accessible by any crew member. No arrests have been made.

“It could be just about anybody,” Sapp said. “It would be really difficult for us to bring in everyone for an interview.”

This is not good news for Royal Caribbean or the cruise industry. The ongoing investigation aboard Enchantment of the Seas indicates that Federal authorities are beginning to target cruise ships for drug smuggling operations. Frequently visiting Caribbean islands where drugs are plentiful and easily distributed, the supply side of smuggling has minimal risk. Crew members with access to all areas of ships can find plenty of places to hide the contraband.

Last week’s raid on MSC Cruises Poesia and the would-be high times Jam Fest cruise added a different but similar focus, targeting passengers.

Royal Caribbean, along with other cruise lines, maintains a zero tolerance policy for illegal drugs on their ships. Look for TSA-like security precautions on cruise ships in the near future. This is inevitable. The cruise industry has always been a model for insuring the safety and security of passengers and crew at sea. This recent news, combined with their intense ongoing commitment to safety and security will bring new procedures.

It’s just a matter of which line will be first.

Flickr photo by anythiene

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Vote for the new Seven Wonders of Nature

by Kraig Becker on

A few years back there was an organized effort to select a New Seven Wonders of the World, which resulted in a list of seven amazing places that joined the Great Pyramids on a modern list of spectacular destinations. Now, a similar effort is being made to select a New Seven Wonders of Nature as well.

The process began not long after naming the New Seven Wonders, with more than 440 locations, in 200 countries being nominated. That list was eventually whittled down to 77 locations for the second round of voting, which resulted in 28 finalists which are now being considered.

Amongst the finalist are such iconic places as The Amazon Rainforest in South America, the Grand Canyon in the U.S., and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Those locations are well known and are likely to earn a spot on the list, although there are a few destinations that are just as spectacular, but are lesser known to the genearl public. Those places include Milford Sound in New Zealand, the Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan, and Jeju Island in Korea.

The organizers of the competition have made it easy to cast your votes for the New Seven Wonders of Nature, but just in case you need a little help, they’ve created a video showing you just how to make your selections. Voting will continue in 2011, with the officiall annoucement expected to come on November 11. (11/11/11)

If I were pressed to make my choices, my Seven Wonders would include The Amazon, The Great Barrier Reef, The Galapagos Islands, The Grand Canyon, Kilimanjaro, Angel Falls, and Jeju Island. What are yours picks?

Azerbaijan’s visa hassles

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Prior to mid-October, as Andrew Mueller notes in today’s Monocolumn, visitors entering Azerbaijan without visas at capital Baku’s Heydar Aliyev Airport had to engage in a bizarre hop from booth to booth to obtain their visas. First, they had to stand in a line to get a passport stamp, then stand in another line to apply for a visa, then wait for the visa to be issued, and then stand in line again to have the visa inspected.

Unnecessary hassles like these are reminiscent of Soviet-era bureaucracy. They feel to many travelers like punishment, even when the reciprocal hassles (those faced by citizens of the country in question trying to enter the visitor’s country) are harsher and require greater advance planning.

Then, in the middle of October, Azerbaijan suddenly changed its visa regime, requiring visitors to obtain visas at the country’s embassies in advance. This requirement is not particularly annoying for tourists, who usually have time to drop their passports off at embassies prior to travel, but it’s a huge hassle for business travelers who often need to travel at the drop of a hat.

Mueller instructively contrasts Azerbaijan’s visa regime tightening with neighbor Georgia’s loosening of visa requirements. Georgia now offers visa-free access to the country for citizens of close to half the world’s nations, and the length of stay following entrance has been extended to a year from 90 days.

Here’s the rub: Azerbaijan is perfectly situated to take advantage of new waves of tourism. Interest in the country is growing, air routes from Europe are quite good, facilities for visitors are expanding, and oil money has Baku flush with venues for visitors to spend money.

But if the country makes it harder for people to visit, fewer will show up.

For the record, Monocle’s daily Monocolumn is a fantastic briefing courtesy of the magazine’s correspondents and contributors from around the world.

[Story source: Andrew Mueller, Monocle; photo credit: indigoprime / Flickr]

AirBaltic expands, spruces up

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Yesterday, Latvian airline AirBaltic launched two new routes: Riga-Madrid and Riga-Beirut.

Riga-based AirBaltic is an airline to watch. Little known in North America, the airline is notable for its low starting fares and the inclusion of most of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations on its route map. But what really sets the airline apart from the pack is its range of underserved destinations across Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Nordic countries.

These less well-served destinations include Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan in the Caucasus; Almaty, Dushanbe, and Tashkent in Central Asia; Amman, Beirut, Dubai, and Tel Aviv in the Middle East; and destinations like Kuopio, Tromsø, and Visby across Nordic Europe.

The catch is that most routes fly in and out of Riga, a beautiful city that is sadly not exactly top-of-mind among most visitors to Europe. While AirBaltic’s fabulous range of destinations can best be accessed from a starting-point in the Baltics or the Nordic countries, the airline’s fares for connecting flights from cities across Western Europe can also be quite competitive.

In anticipation, no doubt, of the summer traffic to come, AirBaltic also upgraded its site yesterday. The visual changes are minimal, but they go some way toward making the site more streamlined and enjoyable to peruse.

(Image: Flickr/Londo_Mollari)

Photo of the Day (12/23/09)

by Jamie Rhein on

When I saw this photo last week while looking for Santas from around the world, I knew I’d found today’s Photo of the Day. Although this fellow appears among the other Santas, here he is again– center stage.

The cultural mix of this Santa shot is superb. Taken by Carpetblogger in Azerbaijan, this is an excellent look at how elements of culture travel. As Carpetblogger explains, although the country is predominately Muslim, some aspects of secular Christian culture are celebrated. Santa is one of those boundary crossers.

If you have an interesting shot of cultural boundary crossing, send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool. It could be chosen as Photo of the Day.