Federal immigration agents arrested dozens of cruise ship workers in San Diego during a sweeping child exploitation investigation that included employees tied to Disney Cruise Line, according to officials.
Customs and Border Protection said 28 crew members from five separate cruise ships were taken into custody between April 23 and April 25 as part of ongoing enforcement operations targeting child sexual exploitation material, per the New York Post.
Disney confirmed that some of the workers arrested had been employed by the company, though it stressed that most of those detained were not Disney staff members.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and fully cooperated with law enforcement,” a Disney spokesperson told The Post.
“While the majority of these individuals were not from our cruise line, those who were are no longer with the company.”
The company declined to say how many Disney employees were among those arrested.
The arrests unfolded publicly at the San Diego cruise terminal, with passengers watching as immigration officials detained crew members shortly after ships docked.
Passenger Dharmi Mehta said one of the workers taken into custody had served her during a recent five-day cruise.
“He was full in uniform, which was in a blazer, tie. Some of the other employees were still in their chef’s uniforms with their name tags on it,” Mehta said.
She described the scene as “really unsettling.”
According to Customs and Border Protection, the investigation focused on individuals allegedly connected to child sexual exploitation material, commonly referred to as CSEM.
The agency said all 28 people arrested were allegedly involved in “either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of CSEM or child pornography.”
Officials also confirmed that the workers’ visas had been revoked and that they were being removed from the United States.
CBP said 26 of the arrested crew members were citizens of the Philippines. The remaining two individuals were from Portugal and Indonesia.
The agency did not identify the cruise lines connected to the other vessels involved in the operation.
Disney reiterated that it fully cooperated with authorities throughout the investigation as federal agents carried out the arrests in front of stunned travelers at the busy California port.
