Would-be passengers bring bees on board ship at Miami-Dade port; cruise delayed three hours

MIAMI - A group of would-be passengers brought 160 bees in bottles onto a cruise ship, and were eventually kicked off the trip. <br> <br> The bees &#34;were in bottles and they maintained that they were intending to use the bees for medicinal reasons,&#34; said Jennifer de la Cruz, a Carnival spokeswoman. <br> <br> &#34;We took the six passengers off to err on the side of caution while we further investigated what they were up to,&#34; she said. The departure was delayed three hours. <br> <br> Carnival officials grew suspicious Sunday when the passengers repeatedly reboarded the ship. Each time they left, they came back with bees, de la Cruz said. <br> <br> The six passengers -- who were not identified -- were removed from the Carnival Victory, which carried nearly 3,000 other vacationers and was headed to the Caribbean. <br> <br> Carnival is conducting an investigation, as is the National Guard, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and state agriculture officials. <br> <br> Carnival and the INS did not return calls from The Associated Press on Monday seeking further comment. Spokesmen for the National Guard and agriculture officials said they would try to get information on the case. <br>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/203474