Moment Jeff Bezos yacht is visited by cops as Lauren Sanchez frolics on deck

Customs officers have been seen aboard Jeff Bezos‘ luxury yacht in photographs shot in St Barts on New Year’s Eve. 

Exclusive DailyMail.com pictures show several officials appearing to investigate aboard the $500 million Koru, which is believed to be the world’s largest sailing yacht. 

At least two men and two women inspected the Amazon founder’s 417-foot boat for more than three hours by roaming the decks and speaking with occupants including Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez. 

Sanchez’s sunbathing was interrupted by a woman who appeared to be one of the officials with a walkie-talkie in her back pocket. 

The former new anchor can be seen calmly looking up at the woman who spoke while pointing her finger and motioning upwards. 

A source said the inspection was ‘routine’. It’s not known the purpose of the search or what the officials were looking for.  

Before the officials crashed the party, Sanchez, 55, was seen soaking up the winter sunshine aboard the boat with her friends, including her ex, former NFL star Tony Gonzalez. 

Sanchez stunned in a wide-brimmed sunhat with large aviators and a gold-patterned bikini. She relaxed on sun loungers and chatted with Gonzalez and friends on deck. 

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old former tight end stripped down to his trunks before diving from the lower deck into the ocean with pals. 

It comes ahead of Sanchez tying the knot with her billionaire beau after they got engaged on board the same mega-yacht in May 2023.

Though there were reports that the two were set to marry in Aspen the weekend after Christmas, Bezos denied the claims.

Bezos and Sanchez have kept extraordinary secrecy around their future wedding day, though Sanchez let slip on the Today Show last month that she had bought her wedding dress.

Sanchez told Vogue in November last year that, at that point, she hadn’t started planning.

‘We’re still thinking about the wedding,’ she told the magazine. ‘Is it going to be big? Is it going to be overseas? We don’t know yet.’

When asked if he would get involved in the plans, Bezos reportedly laughed and said: ‘Oh, God, no. Do I look that dumb?’

Today Show hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie took their chance when Sanchez sat for an interview on November 20 this year, cheekily asking about her wedding plans.

‘So, you asked?’ said Sanchez, looking a little exasperated.

She said she was ‘very excited about it,’ adding she was ‘thinking about the dress’.

‘I have to say, I do have a Pinterest, I’m just like every other bride, so I do have a Pinterest board,’ the billionaire’s fiancée admitted.

Bezos and Sanchez have been publicly dating since January 2019.

Three sources previously told DailyMail.com they had been made aware of the Bezos wedding taking place on December 28.

However, after the Daily Mail published the story, Bezos’s team denied the wedding was going ahead next weekend.

The billionaire took to X to slam the wedding claims as ‘completely false’.

‘This whole thing is completely false – none of this is happening,’ he wrote. ‘The old adage “don’t believe everything you read” is even more true today than it ever has been.’

‘Now lies can get ALL the way around the world before the truth can get its pants on. So be careful out there folks and don’t be gullible,’ Bezos said.

Bezos and Sánchez have kept extraordinary secrecy around the big day ever since he proposed aboard his $500 million superyacht in May 2023.

But one well-connected member of the Aspen community said that the Amazon founder arrived with his entourage on a private jet into the city’s airport on Saturday.

The rumor in town was that Bezos would be holding the ceremony at Kevin Costner’s 160-acre Dunbar Ranch.

Another well-placed source said they had been told a wild cost estimate for the extravaganza of $600 million.

Sánchez let slip on the Today Show last month that she had bought her wedding dress, but no precise plans have been made public – until now.

A source familiar with the wedding planning claimed that guests were set to arrive in Aspen’s top hotels the five-star St Regis after Christmas Day.

Bezos, the second-richest man in the world, was said to have also booked up private mansions around the affluent town for his guests.

The wedding was set to be a whole weekend of celebrations, insiders claimed, including a rumored mountain-top ceremony with spectacular ‘winter wonderland’ views.

Among the frivolities – a buyout at Matsuhisa, sources said. It is an upscale sushi restaurant seating a maximum 180 guests. Bezos and Sánchez have been photographed on several dates at its sister restaurant, Nobu, in Malibu, California.

High-end Aspen wedding planners told DailyMail.com how the couple would have likely planned out the ceremony – including flying in vendors from around the country with iron-clad non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

‘You’d outsource pretty much everything except transportation and lighting,’ said Janie Lemons, an Aspen events planner whose weddings often cost more than $1million.

‘They’ll cherry-pick their favorite things from around the world and fly them into Aspen, whether it’s a cake from Paris, a hairstylist from New York, or a string band from LA,’ said another high-end Aspen planner, Sarah Rose Attman.

Lemons said that although many super-wealthy couples will opt for a ‘rugged’ and ‘low-key’ feel for their special day, the flower budget alone for elite weddings is often still in the ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’.

‘People go to Aspen, not to be in Palm Beach, Beverly Hills or Manhattan to be glitzy and showy with their wealth,’ Lemons said. ‘The whole MO of Aspen is to kind of be this rugged old money, “I just love hopping in my Jeep with my golden retriever to go see the horses” kind of feel.’

Bezos and Sánchez have embraced that aesthetic, famously posing for a Vogue cover last December in a sparse 4×4 on his West Texas ranch, the billionaire dressed in blue jeans and a cowboy hat and the ex-KTTV anchor in a simple white tank top.

There are limits to their modesty however: her enormous 30-carat pink diamond engagement ring was still conspicuous in the magazine photo, weighing down her left hand.

Sánchez told Vogue in November last year that, at that point, she hadn’t started planning.

‘We’re still thinking about the wedding,’ she told the magazine. ‘Is it going to be big? Is it going to be overseas? We don’t know yet.’

When asked if he would get involved in the plans, Bezos reportedly laughed and said: ‘Oh, God, no. Do I look that dumb?’

Today Show hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie took their chance when Sánchez sat for an interview on November 20 this year, cheekily asking about her wedding plans.

‘So, you asked?’ said Sánchez, looking a little exasperated.

She said she was ‘very excited about it,’ adding she was ‘thinking about the dress’.

‘I have to say, I do have a Pinterest, I’m just like every other bride, so I do have a Pinterest board,’ the billionaire’s fiancée admitted.

Despite the mystery around the event, Lemons, Attman and others have some well-educated guesses.

Lemons said it is typical for elite Aspen weddings to have a western-themed welcome dinner, with ‘multiple events throughout the weekend’, often hosted at one of the mansion-ranches surrounding the ski town.

Attman noted Bezos and Sánchez had previously frequented chic cowboy hat store Kemosabe, and said she’d wager the Amazon founder would involve the boutique in their wedding.

‘I have noticed from paparazzi photos they seem to be fans of Kemosabe, so I bet that is incorporated into their festivities somehow,’ she said.

‘Perhaps a hat bar of some type or definitely a gorgeous, custom his-and-her cowboy hat for one of the events — with lots of diamonds for her!’

She imagined that there could be fun events planned around the wedding to entertain guests during their stay.

‘Because Aspen is somewhat hard to get to, and due to the altitude challenges, most large-scale events include a weekend of activities like skiing or hiking,’ Attman said.

Top planners in the area all said that actor Kevin Costner’s Dunbar Ranch is a favorite location for high-net-worth couples to hold wedding receptions, and can be booked out for the week at around $1.4million.

‘It’s a beautiful property, and it’s really close to the town of Aspen, which makes it unique,’ said Lindsey Morgan of ByBello Events. ‘I would say Dunbar would be the preference.’

But for something more unique, Bezos may be turning to friends and family.

‘The best venue in Aspen is the backyard wedding, because it’s probably at someone’s billionaire mansion,’ said Lemons.

‘Usually these people have homes themselves in Aspen. A lot of people stay with their family or friends who have mansions here,’ the wedding planner told DailyMail.com.

‘Jeff Bezos’ dad is very famous in Aspen for being a really kind sweet guy, he’s been around for decades and involved with Aspen Institute.’

Bezos’ mother Jackie and her husband Miguel reportedly have a home in Red Mountain, one of the neighborhoods favored by the town’s billionaire residents.

Among the potential guests are the attendees of their August 2023 engagement yacht party in Positano, Italy, who reportedly included Bill Gates, Wendi Murdoch, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kris Jenner.

Aspen’s airport, nestled in a mountain valley, is due to receive a larger than usual influx of private jets for the incoming rich and famous guests to the Bezos nuptials – though some larger aircraft will have to arrive at nearby airports.

It’s a parking lot at Christmas,’ said Lemons. ‘There’s hundreds of jets that fly in just for that week. But they are going to be especially packed with all of his guests attending.

‘They just voted to increase the size of the airport, but until that happens, a lot of the people who have the mega jets, a 737 or larger, can’t fly into Aspen. So the uber-wealthy of the world have to slum it from Eagle Airport or Grand Junction, about two hours away.’

Debra Doyle of Aspen Eventworks said she knew Bezos and Sánchez have an affinity for private clubs in the elite town, and predicted buyouts there over the alleged wedding weekend.

‘They love the Caribou Club and Aspen Mountain Club,’ she said.

Attman also tipped the Caribou Club as a likely spot for a visit by the happy couple this coming week.