Police and Customs officers have heaped praise on this season's cruise ship crews, claiming they had played a major role in seizure success rates this year.

Bermuda Police's head of narcotics, Detective Superintendent Larry Smith, said Customs and Police had developed a very close working relationship with crew members on all of the five regular cruise ship callers to Bermuda this year, which had led to improved intelligence and greater success.

And he singled out staff on board the Norwegian Majesty, which docks in St. George's, and said they had personally led to two massive drug hauls being made this year. On each occasion, they called the Cruise Ship Enforcement Team, which combines both Police and Customs, with information that drugs were on board the vessel.

The first was in May when 17 kilos of cocaine was seized, along with a kilo of heroin, amounting to about $5 million.

And the second was last week, when 15 kilos of cocaine was discovered, estimated to be worth about $4 million.

No arrests have so far been made in the latest of the seizures, but the investigation is continuing.

Det. Supt. Smith said: "All of the seizures thus far on the cruise ships have come through the assistance of security on board. "I have to say, every one of the cruise ships have been very helpful and pro-active. Their cooperation has been outstanding. In the case of the two major seizures on board the Norwegian Majesty, they alerted us to the seizures, although we already did have some intelligence.

"I feel the ships should be recognised for their co-operation because it has been fantastic. I think the better relationship with the ships' crew, the new methodology in the way we work, and a better composition of personnel has definitely led to an improvement in seizures this year."

But Det. Supt. Smith said the enforcement team would continue to rummage with drug-sniffing dogs on board the vessels in a bid to reap more success this year.

Last week, Collector of Customs Winifred Fostine-DeSilva said that so far this year, there had been 12 seizures on board the cruise ships. During 2000 and 2001 combined, there were only eight. Last year, there were only three.

And yesterday, Assistant Collector of Customs Larry Conn joined the Police in praising the crews and said he had no doubt that without their co-operation, Bermuda would not have enjoyed so much drug interdiction success this year.

"The communication between all of the ships' crew, officers and security arriving here has been extremely productive this year," said Mr. Conn.

"The communication has literally been on a daily basis, in terms of sharing of information. The dialogue that has been created between Customs, Police and the ships has definitely had a positive impact on the number of seizures this year. Without their co-operation, our success may not have as good as it has been."

David Carruthers, chairman of the CrimeStoppers organisation in Bermuda, said he was thrilled the partnership between law enforcement and the crews was paying dividends.