U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 27 cruise ship workers during a child pornography investigation at the Port of San Diego. The arrests occurred between April 23 and April 27 after agents boarded eight cruise ships and interviewed 28 employees. All but one of the workers—26 from the Philippines, one from Portugal, and one from Indonesia—were found to have been involved in the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM).
A Disney Cruise Line ship was among those boarded, and the company confirmed that some of its employees were detained. Disney issued a statement emphasizing its zero-tolerance policy and cooperation with law enforcement, noting that the implicated workers are no longer employed by the company. The suspects had their visas canceled and were returned to their respective countries.
The investigation remains ongoing, with no charges disclosed as of the latest reports. Passengers on one of the ships described seeing employees in uniform being led away by authorities, including a server who had interacted with them during their trip.