Cruise Guest Arrested While Embarking a Cruise Shi...

Key Facets: 

• A Virginia Seaside resident was arrested on felony costs whereas trying to board a cruise ship on the Norfolk Cruise Port on August 23, 2025.
• The person was caught after he was linked to an lively warrant by US Customs and Border Patrol brokers in the course of the routine safety screening.
• It’s unclear which cruise ship the suspect was meaning to board, as each Carnival Sunshine and ACL American Patriot had been within the port that day.

Don’t do the crime in case you can’t do the time – and don’t attempt to board a cruise ship in case you don’t wish to get caught!

One alleged legal named Fard Shaheed Matthews was simply caught at Virginia’s Norfolk Cruise Port whereas going by the safety course of earlier than boarding a cruise ship on Saturday, August 23, 2025.

It’s not clear which cruise ship the 49-year-old Virginia Seaside resident was planning to sail on, as Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Sunshine and American Cruise Traces’ ACL American Patriot had been each within the port that day.

Both means, he by no means made it onboard as a result of US Customs and Border Safety (CBP) officers found the cruiser-to-be had an excellent arrest warrant issued by the Norfolk Police Division.

His alleged crimes are felony forcible rape and sexual battery costs, which, relying on the circumstances, might lead to a number of years in jail to a life sentence if Matthews is discovered responsible.

“These allegations, if confirmed true, are severe and reprehensible, and Customs and Border Safety officers are happy to help our native regulation enforcement companions in returning a fugitive to justice,” mentioned Keri Brady, CBP’s Performing Space Port Director for the Space Port of Norfolk-Newport Information.

“CBP’s distinctive border safety mission of realizing who’s coming into or departing america permits us to make sure that victims’ voices are heard, and helps our regulation enforcement companions make our streets somewhat safer,” Brady added.

After verifying Matthews’ id and that the warrant was certainly nonetheless lively, CBP personnel turned him over to officers with the Norfolk Police Division, who took him into custody.

Are Cruisers All the time Background Checked?

Whereas cruise company will not be assured to be background checked each time they embark on a cruise, main cruise traces like Carnival and Royal Caribbean do reserve the fitting to take action for security causes.

“Carnival Cruise Line (“Carnival”) reserves the fitting to make use of client studies ready by a third-party client reporting company, to conduct a legal background test for company who’ve booked a Carnival cruise,” reads Carnival’s coverage.

“Provided that cruise vessels are at sea, with many company and crew in shut contact for an prolonged interval, Carnival has a official enterprise objective for conducting these background checks.”

Nevertheless, cruise company will all the time bear a strict safety and document verification process earlier than being permitted to board.

However at US Ports of Entry (which the Norfolk Cruise Port is), the safety measures are taken to a different degree as a result of CBP completes its personal inspections and searches.

As a part of this, CBP officers evaluate passengers to quite a few regulation enforcement databases to establish company who would possibly require extra scrutiny. That is the place lively arrest warrants would possibly come again to hang-out sure cruisers.

In accordance with CBP, its officers welcomed and processed multiple million vacationers arriving on the numerous ports of entry, airports, and land border crossings on a mean day in 2024.

Out of this huge quantity, a mean of 44 needed suspects could be recognized and arrested.

Learn Additionally: Are Cruises Safe? What You Really Need to Know

This additionally isn’t the primary time {that a} passenger with an lively warrant was foiled by trying to board a cruise ship.

In June, a 64-year-old girl named Karen Bryan was arrested whereas making an attempt to board a cruise ship in Ketchikan, Alaska, as a result of she had an active warrant for embezzlement charges in Wyoming.

As one other instance, a 47-year-old man named Dominic Weaver was arrested on the finish of final 12 months whereas disembarking a cruise in Miami as a result of he owed greater than $100,000 in back child support.

Cruise Guest Arrested While Embarking a Cruise Ship at Norfolk

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