Elderly couple busted for drug smuggling on cruise

Portrait of businessman in handcuffs

A British couple have been jailed for eight years for drug smuggling on a cross continental cruise ship.

BBC News reported a British couple in their 70s have been jailed by a Portuguese court, after being caught last year attempting to smuggle a large amount of cocaine.

To be precise, the pair were snagged in possession of nine kilograms of cocaine, with a reported street value of £1m (around $1.8 million).

The pair were travelling on the Marco Polo from the Caribbean to Europe when, upon entering Lisbon, their cabin was raided. The drugs were found in the lining of the couple’s four suitcases.

In court, the pair claimed they had been “duped” and given empty suitcases in St Lucia to bring to the UK for a friend, but Judge Margarida Alves dismissed the couple’s story, according to BBC News.

Upon sentencing the pair to eight years imprisonment, the judge said she was determined not to let Portugal become a gateway to Europe for drugs.

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]