Families vacationing aboard cruise ships, including a Disney cruise ship docked in San Diego, were allegedly surrounded by crew members involved in child sexual exploitation crimes, according to reports citing US law enforcement officials who conducted enforcement operations at the Port of San Diego last month. Between April 23 and April 25, officers from US customs and Border Protection (CBP) boarded five cruise ships as part of an ongoing operation targeting Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM). According to reports, officers interviewed a total of 28 suspected crew members during the operation. The group included 26 crew members from the Philippines, one from Portugal, and one from Indonesia.
“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 NY Post reported, quoting a CBP spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that authorities revoked the individuals’ visas and initiated removal proceedings.
“CBP cancelled their visas and these criminals are being removed from our country,” the spokesperson said.
Disney Responds After Crew Members Detained
One of the vessels involved in the operation was the Disney Magic cruise ship. Disney later confirmed that the accused employees were no longer working with the company.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and fully cooperated with law enforcement. These individuals are no longer with the company,” a Disney spokesperson told in a statement.
Authorities have not clarified which other cruise ships were involved in the operation or where the remaining crew members had been employed outside of Disney.
WTF? Disney hired Child Predators for Disney Cruise staff. That’s frightening. pic.twitter.com/q8yzV1RPGy
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) May 7, 2026
Disney Cruise Ship Crew Arrested
Passengers aboard the Disney cruise ship were reportedly shocked after witnessing multiple crew members being detained while the vessel docked in San Diego.
Vacationers documented immigration officials placing several employees in handcuffs as the Disney Magic was being unloaded. Passenger Dharmi Mehta recorded video footage of the incident and said that one of the detained individuals had been her server during the trip.
Before details regarding the allegations emerged, several immigration rights groups had criticized the arrests. Reports also claimed that four “seafarers” were detained aboard the Holland America MV Zaandam cruise ship.
ICE agents were waiting at the Port of San Diego when a Disney cruise ship docked and arrested several crew members who were reportedly in the country illegally.
pic.twitter.com/8sVSE8a0oT— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 6, 2026
What Police Said About the Disney Cruise Ship Child Porn Scandal
The Port of San Diego confirmed that its Harbor Police Department did not participate in the enforcement operation carried out at the cruise terminal.
“The Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department did not have any involvement in the reported enforcement actions on April 23 or April 25 at the B Street Cruise Terminal,” a spokesperson for the port told NBC San Diego.
What Is A Child Porn Sting Operation?
Law enforcement agencies often use sting operations to identify and arrest suspects linked to online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography and online solicitation of minors.
Such operations can involve multiple investigative methods to track people accused of receiving, possessing, transporting, distributing, or viewing child sexual exploitation material online.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
