A cruise ship passenger was dealt a $3,000 fine after he was caught with 15 rounds of ammunition in his backpack.

Alexander Olivera, 38, from Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition without a licence in an incident on May 4.

Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday that he was a passenger on board the Independence of the Seas, which arrived King’s Wharf, Ireland Island North, on Monday from New Jersey.

Olivera left the ship with a backpack soon after it docked and later returned with the same bag to the ship where he was screened for re-entry.

However, during the search officers found a magazine loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition inside.

Olivera said that the magazine was his and that he had a valid Massachusetts firearms licence, but he had no idea that the ammunition was still in his bag when he and his wife set out on the cruise to Bermuda.

He told the court: “It was a mistake. It wasn’t intentional. We love Bermuda and unfortunately I ruined the whole vacation that we planned for a year.

“The boat is gone and I have no idea how we are getting back.”

Carrington Mahoney, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, initially suggested a fine of $500 per round of ammunition, but Charles Richardson, for Olivera, said that the fines delivered in such accidental importation cases are usually far lower.

He suggested a fine of about $200 per bullet, a total of $3,000, which Mr Mahoney said the Crown would support.

Senior magistrate Maxanne Anderson said she had taken note of Olivera’s early guilty plea and obvious remorse, fining him $3,000 to be paid in full before he is released from custody.

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