Are Drugs on Cruise Ships on the Rise?

Are Drugs on Cruise Ships on the Rise? - AOL Travel News: "A cruise passenger was arrested in St. Thomas last week after federal agents found a load of party drugs he was allegedly dealing from his cabin on a gay charter cruise on the 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas. The bust on the world's largest ship was the latest in a series of recent high-profile incidents, begging the question, are illicit drugs on cruise ships increasing?

'What you might be looking at is an increase in passenger numbers,' Migdalia Travis, spokeswoman for the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) field office in Miami, told AOL Travel News. 'The amount of cruise passengers has increased and of course will account for an increase in contraband finds.'

Travis notes both Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the world's two largest cruise ports, have experienced a substantial increase in traffic, with more and bigger ships – Fort Lauderdale saw cruise traffic rise 17% in the last fiscal year to more than 3.3 million passengers."