Three Brazilian nationals were arrested Thursday after they were apprehended on board the cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas with fraudulent credit cards.
The trio also had magnetic striping machines, blank cards and credit card encoding devices, WVWI reported.
Attorney Douglas Sprotte, director of the V.I. Justice Department's white collar crime division, told Radio One news that it is too early in the investigation to know whether the suspects are linked to the reports last month of 2 million bogus credit cards being circulated in South America.
The arrests were made by members of the white collar crime division, Customs and immigration officers and Secret Service agents in cooperation with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line security.
Sprotte said the suspects had made purchases of several "big ticket items" here in St. Thomas, on the ship and in other Caribbean ports.
Sprotte said he expects an advice-of-rights hearing for the three Friday morning in federal court.