Son buys Cuban cigar in Bahamas and immediately arrested

My son just graduated, so to celebrate, his girlfriend surprised him with a Carribean cruise. The first stop was at a port in the Bahamas and they walked over to the area where the tourist shops and local vendors were set up. While there he saw that you could buy Cuban cigars and as a novelty, decided to buy one. Since he doesn't smoke, he bought a single cigar instead of a box. He stated as soon as he bought it, he turned and was surrounded by four policemen that told him he was suspected of buying drugs. They took the cigar from him and cut it open, stating that it had marijuana hidden inside. They then told him he would have to pay a hefty fine to avoid jail. Surprised by everything going on and having his girlfriend with him to worry about, he was pressured into paying a fine. He didn't have any cash, so they took him to an ATM and made him withdraw $1000, threatening that he would miss his ship if he didn't pay the fine promptly. His girlfriend called the ship to request assistance and though they came, they were told they would be charged a fee since they didn't buy the travel insurance offered. On top of being conned out of $1000, the cruise line told him it was an $800 charge for sending someone there.

For those thinking he knew he was buying weed, I doubt there was any in it. Whatever your opinion is on weed, that is something he has never been interested in. I would expect him to buy some island rum, but even if he was interested, he would avoid weed due to his company drug testing and the risk of losing his state certification he just obtained.

I share this because it was a very expensive lesson learned. I can think of many, but first I will never take anything but a small amount of cash and my passport when leaving a ship. If I have little money, they would probably not waste their time on me. I will also make sure I have the local embassy numbers programmed in my phone before exiting the ship. I also will never buy junk I don't really need and risking having someone claim I was smuggling drugs. Hopefully this helps someone on this board avoid a similar incident.