A cruise ship passenger reportedly tried to skip out on tens of thousands in gambling debt by jumping overboard in Puerto Rico on Sunday.
Authorities say Jey Gonzalez-Diaz leapt off the Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas as it docked near San Juan for a Customs inspection. A passing jet skier pulled him to shore, but police later arrested him and found $14,600 in cash, two phones and five IDs, according to CBS News. Investigators said he owed the cruise line $16,710.24 and now faces federal charges. (RELATED: Crew Member Dies After Going Overboard On World’s Largest Cruise Ship)
Cruise ship passenger in Puerto Rico jumps overboard allegedly to avoid $16,000 gambling debt https://t.co/CTI0zZ3I3o
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 10, 2025
A police report accused Gonzalez-Diaz of trying to dodge federal currency reporting rules when entering the U.S., the outlet reported. He allegedly told officers in Spanish that he jumped because “he did not want to report the currency on his possession because he thought he was going to be taxed duties for bring in the currency.”
Investigators also found he had booked his trip under the name Jeremy Diaz and that his $16,710 debt was “almost exclusively associated to Casino and Gaming expenses,” according to the complaint.
Police said records tied one of the IDs — under the name Jeremy Omar Gonzalez-Diaz — to a man who has been in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo since January, CBS News reported. Gonzalez-Diaz insisted that man was his brother.
When asked to give his full name, he reportedly told officers, “If you guys were good at your job, you would know that.”
Gonzalez-Diaz has since been released on bail, according to local outlet NotiCentro.