Police are playing down an apparent increase in the number of cruise ship passengers appearing in the Island's courts charged with drug possession.

The Royal Gazette has reported on 16 passengers who have been charged and fined in Magistrates' Court over the first three months of the cruise ship season.

For the entire cruise ship season last year, only 12 passengers were reported appearing in court for similar charges.

Royal Gazette reporters attend each plea court sessions each day.

The increase has not gone unnoticed in the community and has prompted suspicion of an undercover anti-drug campaign -- along the lines of Operation Cleansweep -- is underway on board the visiting vessels.

Police, however, put the increase down to being a "coincidence''.

And a spokeswoman said figures actually indicated 41 cruise ship passengers had been arrested between the start of the cruise ship season and June.

Similar figures for last year were not available.

Local shipping representatives backed up Police statements.

John S. Darrell spokesman Don MacPherson said: "This is really just a coincidence. The lines are very strict all the time so they do not have to do anything extra.

Meyer Agencies' vice-president of operations Capt. John Moore agreed with Mr.

MacPherson.

He noted that information on board the vessels told passengers about Bermuda's "zero-tolerance'' toward drugs while cruise hosts and hostesses also reminded passengers about the perils of bringing drugs ashore in Bermuda.

Capt. Moore suggested that passengers might still be taking risks because they came from countries which had "personal consumption'' laws for illegal drugs and they felt Bermuda would be the same.

However, Mr. MacPherson admitted that cruise lines would never make public anything their passengers might disapprove of.

If they were doing something to catch passengers with illegal substances -- which he stressed he was not aware of -- then it was highly unlikely that they would make it public.

And with the high security surrounding Operation Cleansweep, it is also believed to be unlikely that Police will be making any of their plans or operations public until later.

The cruise ship season began in April following cancellations of two vessels due to arrive in March.

The first reported case in The Royal Gazette this year of a cruise passenger appearing in court for drug charges was on May 13.

Police deny cruise ships crackdown Eighteen-year-old Royal Majesty passenger Justin Tomassini from Rhode Island was fined $300 for possession of 2.57 grams of cannabis.

Newspaper records show that since then 15 people have appeared in court with drug offences involving the possession of more than 47 grams of cannabis between May 29 and June 30. They have received a total of $8,000 in fines.

Individuals were also charged with possession of cocaine and drug equipment.

Seven passengers were from the cruise ship Dreamward , five from the Meridian and one from the Royal Majesty . It is not known which ship the other two passengers were travelling on.

The ages of the offenders ranged from 17 to 48. The visitors were from New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

CRIME CRM DRUGS DGS POLICE POL