A man authorities identified as Jey Gonzalez‑Diaz jumped from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship as it disembarked at the Port of San Juan and was later detained after being picked up by a jet ski, according to a federal affidavit and local officials. Investigators say the swim was an attempt to avoid paying roughly $16,710 in gambling losses charged to a name on the ship's records.
The Rhapsody of the Seas arrived in San Juan on Sunday; the jump occurred about 9:15 a.m. as the ship was disembarking, the affidavit states. Security footage shows Gonzalez‑Diaz in the water grabbing onto a jet ski that had pulled up alongside him; the vessel brought him to shore while dragging another rider on an inflatable craft. He ran from the port but was located and detained about 9:45 a.m. near the Puerto Rico Capitol Building by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
Agents said Gonzalez‑Diaz carried a backpack containing $14,600 in cash, a handbag, two cell phones and five different identification documents. The documents showed multiple names and differing details, the affidavit said. A Tennessee identification card and a Puerto Rico birth certificate were issued to "Jeremy Omar Gonzalez‑Diaz," the cruise boarding pass was under "Jeremy Diaz," and a Social Security card and passport read "Jey Xander Omar Gonzalez Diaz." Royal Caribbean billed gaming charges to the name on the boarding pass, the cruise line told investigators.
When asked his real name, the affidavit quotes Gonzalez‑Diaz as replying, "If you guys were good at your job, you would know that." Puerto Rico state records later identified him as Jey Gonzalez‑Diaz, the complaint said. Further checks indicated that a man named Jeremy Omar Gonzalez‑Diaz has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo since January; Gonzalez‑Diaz told agents that man was his brother.
The affidavit says the $16,710 in casino charges were "almost exclusively" accrued during the weeklong cruise, which departed Puerto Rico on Aug. 31 and made a stop in Barbados before returning. Gonzalez‑Diaz told investigators he declined to report the currency in his possession because he believed he would be taxed duties for bringing it into Puerto Rico, according to the complaint.
Local reports said Gonzalez‑Diaz was released on bail. Federal authorities have charged him in connection with the incident; the complaint notes the case could carry a sentence of up to five years in prison or a fine of as much as $250,000 if convicted. Authorities did not immediately provide further details about specific federal counts or the schedule for any court proceedings.
Royal Caribbean and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately comment beyond the information included in the affidavit and local reports. The case remains under investigation as officials review the sequence of events, the differing identities on documents and the source of the cash recovered at the scene.