A couple was awakened by armed Customs and Border Protection officers on the last day of their Carnival cruise.
The husband, a U.S. citizen and Coast Guard veteran, was handcuffed and detained in a case of mistaken identity.
The couple alleges officers forced them to delete video footage of the incident from their phone.
On the last morning of their cruise, Jose “Joey” Martinez and Tamara “Tammy” Verhas got an unexpected wake-up call.
They heard banging on their cabin door aboard Carnival Horizon just before 7 a.m. on Jan. 5, where they had stayed during a Caribbean cruise for Martinez and a friend’s 50th birthdays.
“It immediately opened, and flashlights came into the room,” Verhas, 44, told USA TODAY. “Three giant men wearing black, armed, (were) pointing flashlights at us, shouting.”
The Phoenix-based husband and wife were half-dressed, she said. Verhas began filming as Customs and Border Protection officers handcuffed Martinez, who said he is a U.S. citizen and Coast Guard veteran.
“A female agent came in (and) jumped on top of me in the bed to try and snatch my phone, which she did eventually snatch,” Verhas recalled. “And then they disappeared with Joey and my phone for 90 minutes.” He was placed in a holding cell at the Miami port, according to the couple.
Only upon his release did authorities explain that they were actually looking for another person with Martinez’s name, the pair said.
“I mean, we were in shock,” said Martinez. “It was traumatizing. You know, (it was) the last thing we expected to happen to us.”
Carnival Cruise Line told USA TODAY that the cruise line “was not involved with this investigation or action.”
“We are aware that U.S. Customs and Border Protection took a guest into custody as a person of interest,” the company said in an email. “As this is a law‑enforcement matter, we defer all further questions to the appropriate authorities.”
The couple said they received no apology from CBP or communication from Carnival following the incident. Officers also forced the couple to delete the footage from Verhas’ phone before agreeing to return it, she added.
CBP has yet to provide a comment in response to USA TODAY’s request. The couple’s account comes amid other reports of Americans and international tourists being detained amid the Trump administration’s increased enforcement directed at those without legal status.
Martinez and Verhas don’t plan to go on any planes for at least the next three years. “I mean, all they had to do was just a tiny bit of homework, and they would have cleared him,” Verhas said.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
CBP officers mistakenly detain US veteran on Carnival cruise
