Royal Caribbean Drug Bust: Cruise Workers Allegedly Smuggled Up to $100,000 in Cocaine, Heroin on Ship

BALTIMORE (CBS/AP) Some employees aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship have been taking the high seas a bit too literally, to hear federal investigators tell it.

Authorities probing a drug smuggling ring found nearly $100,000 worth of cocaine and heroin hidden on the Enchantment of the Seas, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities say drug-sniffing dogs helped to uncover 1 1/2 pounds of heroin and nearly a pound of cocaine Saturday aboard the ship, while it was docked in Baltimore after a 12-day cruise to the Caribbean.

Gavin Excell, 35, was arrested after officers found drugs hidden in his pants and shoes, court documents state. Excell then told authorities that he and two other employees of the ship's kitchen - John Swart Garth and Kishurn Neptune, both 27 - picked up the drugs from a Jamaican man in the Dominican Republic.

Two others, 48-year-old Loxly Johnson and 34-year-old Shenika Graves, are accused of plotting to buy the drugs from the ship employees, the documents show. All five face the same charge of conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine.

Last month three employees of the same ship were charged with conspiracy to import drugs after a previous journey to the Caribbean. Law enforcement officials would not disclose whether the new drug seizure is linked to that case, and no further arrests have been made.

A spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency is investigating leads related to the latest seizure, but declined to comment further. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore declined to comment because the investigation is ongoing.

Excell, Johnson, and Graves have pleaded not guilty, and arraignments for Garth and Neptune are scheduled Friday.

Enchantment of the Seas sails between Bermuda, New England and Canada, and numerous destinations in the Caribbean.