Disney cruise staff among 28 people arrested in US for child porn

Disney cruise ship employees were among 28 individuals arrested for allegedly possessing or being involved with the distribution of child pornography.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers boarded eight cruise ships and interviewed 28 workers as part of a child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) operation between Apr. 23 and 27, Variety reported.

A Disney Cruise Line ship was among those that were boarded, California Post reported.

Arrested

Officials confirmed that 27 of the 28 arrested had either received, distributed, possessed or transported child pornography.

The detainees comprised 26 crew members from the Philippines, one from Indonesia and one from Portugal.

The staff members' identities and any charges filed in connection with the investigation were not disclosed, Los Angeles Times reported.

The accused had their visas cancelled and were returned to their respective countries of citizenship.

Arrests filmed

In April 2026, multiple employees were filmed as immigration officials arrested them in San Diego, U.S.

@canal33tijuana Arrestan a trabajadores de crucero de Disney en San Diego; no hay claridad sobre las causas 🚢🚨 🚢🚨 Alrededor de 10 trabajadores de un crucero de Disney Cruise Line fueron arrestados mientras la embarcación se encontraba anclada en San Diego. Los empleados fueron bajados del crucero Disney Magic por agentes de la CBP, sin que hasta el momento se haya informado oficialmente la causa de su detención. ⚠️ Activistas señalan que ya han pasado más de 10 días sin que se tenga claridad sobre su paradero, lo que ha generado preocupación por su situación legal y acceso a defensa. 👉 ¿Qué opinas sobre la falta de información en este caso? 📸: Border Zoom #SanDiego #Disney #migrantes #CBP #Noticias ♬ sonido original - Canal 33 Tijuana

According to a passenger who filmed the moment, one of those detained was her server.

Several immigration rights groups initially criticised the Disney Cruise Line arrests.

They also claimed that four “seafarers” were arrested on the Holland America cruise ship MV Zandaam.

The port said local police were not involved in the arrest.

Disney's response

In a statement, a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said the staff involved with this case were no longer with the company.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behaviour and fully cooperated with law enforcement,” the statement read.

The spokesperson also claimed that the majority of the arrested were not from its cruise line.

It remains unclear which other ships were boarded and had arrests take place.