Jermaine Jaipaul, a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' Navigator Of The Seas has been arrested for drug trafficking aboard the ship.

The Jamaican crew member, age 29, was aboard the ship where he was arrested when the Navigator Of The Seas stopped at Belize.

The arrest was made on January 31, 2008 around 1:35 pm by the Belize Major Crimes Personnel who boarded the ship after they received a report the man had a package of suspected cocaine strapped to his thigh, beneath his trousers while boarding the ship.

The ship was 5 miles out of Belize City when Jaipaul returned to the ship from the port of call where it was suspected he picked up the narcotics when he came onshore.

Belize officials say security aboard handed over the 'cocaine' package and the man to local police.

Navigator Of The Seas embarks every other Monday on a 5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico then on to Belize City, Belize and returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It is unclear if Jaipaul intended to sell the drug aboard the ship to crew and passengers or attempt to import it back at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

With drug dealers who purchase and carry in high volume aboard a cruise ship, the cruise becomes extremely dangerous for anyone who accidentally comes across their cargo or any deal in progress.

Apparently Jaipaul was fed up with the low wages aboard Navigator Of The Seas and had decided to go for the big time bucks. There was only one catch. The package strapped to Jaipaul's leg was NOT Cocaine.

In fact, it wasn't a narcotic at all, contrary to media reports. Cruise Bruise has learned that Jaipaul had been duped, it wasn't Cocaine at all. Or was he? Perhaps he served as a decoy while the real drugs were smuggled aboard quietly as ship's security worked to detain Jaipaul.

Perhaps it was security who was duped. The powder strapped to Jaipaul's leg was only a harmless powder according to tests done by the Belize police.

It is hard to believe that a large volume drug dealer would not taste the goods before paying for them or accepting them to ensure the product was the real deal. This lends some credence to speculation that Jaipaul was working as a decoy and the real package was smuggled aboard undetected while ship's security patted each other on the back for the big 'bust'.

But, because police think Jaipaul had bought what he thought was cocaine - which is still an offence - but not nearly as serious as trafficking cocaine. He was charged with the rarely used offence: "supplying a substance other than controlled drugs." Since the law is on their books, apparently bait and switch drug trafficking is a big enough problem there to create a law and penalties for it.