Key Aspects:
- A Costa Cruises guest was mistaken for a man who was wanted on drug charges during a Mediterranean cruise.
- The passenger was arrested and held in custody for seven hours before his identity was verified.
- He is seeking compensation from Costa Cruises for the trauma that he and his family endured because of the mistake.
A dream family cruise turned into a nightmare after an innocent father was arrested by Italian authorities due to a case of mistaken identity. He is now demanding compensation from Costa Cruises.
According to French outlet La Dépêche du Midi, Amir, a 44-year-old man from Toulouse, was arrested during a Mediterranean sailing to Tunisia onboard a Costa Cruises ship because he was mistaken for a suspected drug trafficker.
Amir boarded the cruise ship on March 1, 2026, in Marseille, France, with his wife, their three young kids, and 13 other relatives to celebrate a family birthday.
Based on the itinerary and cruise tracking data, it appears that the family were passengers onboard Costa Smeralda. However, this has not been officially confirmed.
Cruise Hive previously reported that the 5,224-guest ship was forced to skip its visit to La Goulette, Tunisia, on March 4, 2026, due to strong winds and headed straight to Italy. It was in Palermo (Sicily) when Amir was searched and arrested on March 5, 2026.
According to media reports, Amir was mistaken for a French-Tunisian man who had a European arrest warrant that was issued in 2019 on drug trafficking charges. Both men had the same first name, last name, and date of birth, which is what led to the confusion.
The cruiser told the media that he tried to clarify the situation by presenting identifying documents and explaining that he was had a different nationality than the suspect.
However, his explanations weren’t good enough and the language barrier between Amir and Italian authorities didn’t help. Reports show that Amir endured seven hours in police custody before his fingerprints confirmed that the cruise guest wasn’t the wanted suspect.
He was returned to the cruise ship before it left Palermo and was allowed to complete the voyage with the rest of his family, but the damage was done.
Cruiser Seeks Compensation
Per La Dépêche, Amir is demanding compensation for the trauma that he and his family endured because of the mistake and wants Costa Cruises to be held accountable.
During his arrest, Amir’s cruise cabin was searched, he was subjected to what he says was a particularly invasive body search, and he was escorted to the port police station in front of hundreds of other cruise guests and crew members.
While in custody, Amir was allegedly told that he could face up to 18 months in prison and/or be forced to pay a fine of €1,800 ($2,102.14 USD), which terrified him.
The cruise guest told La Dépêche that the stress of his ordeal caused his narcolepsy to flare up to the point that he required hospitalization after his return to France.
Additionally, the family says that Amir’s father-in-law had a heart attack after the arrest. They say he was removed from the ship in a wheelchair and was hospitalized in a cardiology unit upon their return to Toulouse.
La Dépêche reports that Amir contacted the Monferran et Associés law firm, which decided to pursue legal action against the cruise line. According to Monferran, Costa Cruises had all of Amir’s identifying information and allegedly failed to take the necessary steps to clear up the confusion and prevent his arrest.
The lawyer told the French publication that he believes that a compensation offer should be made before any formal legal proceedings are initiated.
Per La Dépêche, Costa Cruises has not responded to the legal complaint. However, the cruise line did tell the French outlet in a letter dated April 8, 2026, that it rejected all responsibility and that the crew members had simply complied with orders from Italian authorities.
Amir is not pursuing legal action against the Italian authorities because his lawyer believes that they acted upon the information that was available to them.
Not The First Case of Mistaken Identity
Cases of mistaken identity are rare in the cruise world, but they do occur from time to time.
Cruise Hive previously reported that ICE agents burst into a stateroom occupied by Jose Martinez in January 2026 onboard a Carnival ship and wrongfully detained the passenger because of confusion surrounding his name. Martinez is not only a lawful US citizen, but also a veteran of the US Coast Guard.
In May 2026, a cruise guest was mistakenly banned by P&O Cruises because of an incident that occurred during a previous sailing. The problem was that the passenger had never sailed on a P&O cruise ship before and was trying to book his first cruise with the Carnival-owned brand.
