Dozens of workers from multiple cruise ships that docked in San Diego, including one from the Disney Cruise Line, were found to be in possession of or involved with the distribution of child pornography, according to authorities.
Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection boarded eight cruise ships between April 23 and April 27 and interviewed 28 workers as part of an ongoing investigation, federal officials said in a statement.
During the interviews, officers confirmed that 27 of the 28 individuals had either received, sent, possessed or transported child pornography, according to the statement.
A Disney Cruise Line ship was among those that were boarded and where employees were detained in connection with the investigation.
In a statement, a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said the workers were no longer with the company.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior and fully cooperated with law enforcement,” the statement read. “While the majority of these individuals were not from our cruise line, those who were are no longer with the company.”
Officials did not disclose Thursday whether any charges have been filed in connection with the investigation.
The suspects were not identified. Officials said they included 26 crew members from the Philippines, one from Portugal and one from Indonesia.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said the suspects had their visas canceled and were returned to their respective countries of citizenship.
