Families hoping to make memories on a cruise were unknowingly surrounded by alleged child predators working aboard the ships, according to law enforcement officials.
US Customs and Border Protection boarded five cruise ships, including a Disney cruise docked in San Diego, between April 23 and 25 as part of ongoing child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) enforcement operations, a CBP spokesperson told The California Post.
“After boarding the vessels and interviewing 26 suspected crew members from the Philippines, one suspected crew member from Portugal, and one from Indonesia, officers confirmed all subjects were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of CSEM or child pornography,” the CBP spokesperson said.
“CBP cancelled their visas and these criminals are being removed from our country,” the spokesperson continued.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and fully cooperated with law enforcement. While the majority of these individuals were not from our cruise line, those who were are no longer with the company,” a Disney spokesperson told The California Post.
It’s unclear which other ships the additional crew members may have worked on outside of Disney.
Passengers aboard a Disney cruise ship docking in San Diego were stunned as they documented multiple employees getting arrested last month.
Hellbound and Down 