A group of seven crew members from MSC Seaside were recently arrested on charges of smuggling cocaine into the U.S. at PortMiami.
Customs and Border Protection discovered a total of 17 pounds of cocaine during a sweep of the ship on November 17, court filings said.
Damion Hawthorne, 32, was arrested for recruiting South African crew members Londiwe Shange, Wandile Mhlongo, Thembeka Sokhulu, and Viwe Tshaka, who picked up the drugs stash in Jamaica during a port call.
CBP officers then found 2.2 pounds of cocaine in the backpacks of Errol Roy Sutherland, and Carl Michael Smith.
Around $100,000 was also reportedly seized.
The employees had been earning about $2,000 for each drug run over the past few months, according to federal prosecutors.
All are being held on a $250,000 bond and are due to be arraigned in a Miami federal court on December 3.
