A person jumped overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas after he misplaced greater than $16,000 within the ship’s on line casino. The person has been recognized as Jey Xander Omar Gonzalez Diaz.
The incident occurred round 9:15 a.m. on September 7, simply as passengers have been disembarking in San Juan following a week-long Caribbean voyage.
Gonzalez Diaz was rapidly rescued by two males passing by on jet skis who introduced him ashore, the place he was detained by Customs and Border Safety (CBP) brokers. The story took a twist as CBP brokers found he was carrying $14,600 in money and subsequently arrested him for failing to declare greater than $10,000 upon reentering the US, as outlined within the federal criticism.
Along with the money, CBP brokers discovered two telephones and 5 completely different identification kinds with conflicting names. Two of the identifications included a Tennessee driver’s license and a delivery certificates beneath the title Jeremy Omar Gonzalez Diaz. Jeremy is allegedly the brother of Gonzalez Diaz and was arrested in January 2025 on drug trafficking and firearms costs per Wapa.TV. Investigators stated Gonzalez Diaz used the alias “Jeremy Diaz” to board the Rhapsody of the Seas and to gamble within the ship’s on line casino the place he ran up playing money owed.
When requested why he jumped overboard, he informed authorities “he didn’t wish to report the forex in his possession as a result of he thought he was going to be taxed on the duties for bringing within the forex,” as reported by NBC Information. Although not said within the criticism, his playing money owed beneath his brother’s title certainly performed a task in his resolution to leap.
He has been launched on bail pending trial the place if convicted he may face 5 years in jail and/or a wonderful as much as $250,000.
No matter his impending authorized troubles, Gonzalez Diaz is fortunate to be alive. Leaping from a cruise ship, even whereas docked, is extremely harmful. The chance of harm on affect with the water is excessive and the tides in port can problem even a powerful swimmer. Paired with cruises traces’ continued failure to put in man overboard methods (MOB), falling overboard is usually deadly. On this case, it wasn’t Royal Caribbean that rescued him, however two males on passing jet skis who occurred to identify him within the water.
Picture credit score: Rescue – Homeland Safety Investigations; Ship – Wikimedia
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