An American woman caught on board her cruise ship with cannabis and carfentanyl while travelling to Bermuda on a “girls’ trip” has been jailed for 21 months for her role in a drug importation conspiracy.

Tracy Ann Williams, 45, admitted to two counts of conspiracy to import a controlled drug. Her charges did not include conspiracy to import the highly potent opioid carfentanyl.

Williams was arrested with three family members when the Carnival Venezia docked in Bermuda in July.

She told Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe: “In the months I have been here, I have most certainly learnt my lesson. I can’t apologise enough to you and your country for the trouble I have caused.”

Williams, a truck driver from Michigan, claimed to be unaware of the drugs in her luggage and maintained that she had no idea what carfentanyl was.

She added: “I do know about fentanyl. It’s a drug that’s used in my country that is not good and I can’t understand why people could do that.

“For me to bring that over, I couldn’t even imagine for that to get on the streets.

“People die from that. It’s terrible. I am so sorry.”

The Supreme Court heard that a locked pouch among Williams’s effects was found to contain just over 37 grams of carfentanyl, a drug originally developed for veterinary use to tranquillise large animals such as elephants.

It also contained 227g of cannabis and a package with 20g of powder that was found to be greater than 1 per cent delta nine THC, the main drug in cannabis.

Prosecutor Paula Tyndale told the court that the drugs came with a street value of $6,000 to $22,700 for the cannabis, $4,000 for the THC and $24,700 for the carfentanyl.

Regarding the carfentanyl, she said that the Crown was unable to establish an agreement between Williams and a male alleged co-conspirator, whose case is pending in the courts.

Ms Tyndale told the court that a forensic examination of Williams’s mobile phone appeared to show communications with the other defendant in “numerous text messages” from November 8, 2024 and July 17, 2025 — including an apparent arrangement to pay Williams’s two sisters and daughter, who accompanied her on the trip.

Elizabeth Christopher, Williams’s defence lawyer, told Mr Justice Wolffe that her client was “incredibly remorseful, as the court may see”.

Ms Christopher added: “She did not have a keen appreciation of the situation in respect of the cannabis, although she does now.

“In respect of carfentanyl, I do not believe she knew such a thing existed.”

The court heard that Williams and her family left New York aboard the Venezia on July 17 this year. The ship docked at King’s Wharf on July 19.

However, at 9.30pm on July 18, while the vessel was in international waters, the ship’s security officers were on patrol with a drug-detecting canine.

In turn, that led to a search of the family’s cabin, where drugs were discovered in plastic-wrapped cylindrical rolls inside a locked pouch.

The court heard Williams claimed ownership, but denied knowledge of the drugs, saying she had borrowed the pouch from her mother to hold her cash during the trip.

The group were confined to their cabin until the ship’s arrival in Bermuda, when all were arrested on suspicion of importing controlled drugs.

In an interview with police in Bermuda, Williams said she had invited her two sisters and her daughter on a cruise to Bermuda as a “girls’ trip”, which she paid for.

She told police she had noticed the cylindrical objects inside the pouch once aboard the ship but had no idea what they were.

Although she told officers she did not use drugs and that the drugs did not belong to her, she said she would take full responsibility.

Ahead of her sentencing, Williams sobbed as she read out a statement of apology, asking the court and the people of Bermuda for their forgiveness.

She said she was a single mother who had only been able to speak to her son and grandson by video during her time in custody.

“This is not the person I am,” Williams said. She added that she had never run been in trouble with the law before.

She added: “I am truly remorseful and very much ashamed of the wrong I have done. Please find some compassion for me and have mercy on me.

“I am not a bad person. I made a bad decision. I’m beyond disgusted for the wrong I have done.”

Mr Justice Wolffe asked her what effect her incarceration was having on her son and grandson.

Williams said: “It’s been terrible. I don’t believe they know the extent of what really happened, beyond me not being there like I normally am.”

Mr Justice Wolffe said: “I take into consideration the defendant’s guilty plea to both of these counts, which was made at a relatively early opportunity.

“She has no previous convictions in this jurisdiction and I take into consideration her very genuine expressions of regret and remorse.”

He said the substances found in Williams’s luggage “could have done untold damage and harm in Bermuda”.

The judge added: “That has caused her some degree of pain, to know that what she did could have placed the lives of Bermudians in jeopardy.”

Mr Justice Wolffe told her drugs were the cause of “devastating effects in Bermuda, particularly on young Bermudians, and therefore it is inevitable that anyone who conspires to bring drugs into Bermuda will face a term of imprisonment”.

He added: “I am also aware of other matters which I do not wish to state in open court.”

Williams was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment on both counts, to be served concurrently, with time in custody to be taken into account.

Mr Justice Wolffe added: “I will simply say this to you. You have made an absolutely terrible mistake. I think you probably realise that more than I can say.”

He urged Williams to use her time in custody to reflect on her actions and as “a catapult, to teach your kid and grandkids that there’s no easy way out”.

Mr Justice Wolffe added: “You have got to work hard for whatever you want and accept that, if anything comes out of this, that they have learnt that lesson as well.”

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