Cruise Passenger Allegedly Jumped Off Ship To Avoid Reporting Currency

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• A Royal Caribbean passenger was arrested after jumping off a cruise ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• The man allegedly jumped to avoid reporting over $14,000 in cash to Customs and Border Protection.
• The passenger also had a debt of over $16,000 with the cruise line, mostly from casino expenses.

A Royal Caribbean International passenger was arrested after allegedly jumping off a cruise ship to avoid reporting currency.

Jey Gonzalez-Diaz allegedly leapt from Rhapsody of the Seas during disembarkation while the vessel was docked at the Port of San Juan on Sept. 7, according to a criminal complaint filed in the District of Puerto Rico. He was brought to shore by two passing jet skis and later detained by Customs and Border Protection.

The ship departed from San Juan on Aug. 31 for a week-long Southern Caribbean cruise, according to CruiseMapper.

Officers found $14,600 in his backpack, and he allegedly told CBP that "he did not want to report the currency on his possession because he thought he was going to be taxed duties for bring in the currency," per the complaint.

An attorney listed for Gonzalez-Diaz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"As this is an ongoing investigation, we are working with authorities and don’t have any more information to share," the cruise line’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, told USA TODAY in an emailed statement.

CBP conducted an administrative seizure of the money. He is charged with failure to report the transport of monetary instruments of more than $10,000 from outside the U.S.

"Upon review with Royal Caribbean, the detained individual was booked under the name 'Jeremy Diaz' and had a $16,710.24 debt with the cruise line," the document noted. "This debt was almost exclusively associated to Casino and Gaming expenses, billed to 'Jeremy Diaz'."

Records showed that a Jeremy Omar Gonzalez-Diaz was in federal prison, according to the complaint. The Royal Caribbean guest identified "Jeremy" as his brother.

He declined to talk with agents from Homeland Security Investigations, but law enforcement said that when asked for his full name, he replied, "If you guys were good at your job, you would know that."

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.