SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A total of 23 crew members from multiple cruise ships were arrested in late April at the Port of San Diego, suspected of involvement with child sexual abuse material.
According to Homeland Security Investigations, on April 28, agents made the arrests as part of "Operation Tidal Wave."
Between April 23 and 27, U.S. Customs and Border Protection also boarded eight cruise ships as part of the operation. "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 that 27 of the 28 subjects were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of CSEM or child pornography."
"CBP cancelled their visas and these criminals have been returned to their country of citizenship," the agency said.
RELATED: CBP detained multiple cruise ship workers at San Diego Port
The new information comes after a video shared by a passenger aboard the Disney Magic showed at least four CBP officers detaining several Disney Cruise employees. Disney sent ABC 10News the following statement:
“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 said.
Maritime Attorney Michael Winkleman says these types of cases are usually handled by the FBI.
" I think there was something very unique here that it was CBP and ICE, and they immediately sent all those crew members back to their home countries," said Winkleman
He added that it's unique that they were sent home without being tried in federal prison.
"They could have been charged in US courts and be in federal prison. Now awaiting charges, awaiting trial, etc. but the fact that they were sent home to their home countries, that's actually quite unique," said Winkleman.
The Port of San Diego also sent the following statement:
The Port of San Diego, including Harbor Police and security personnel, did not have any involvement in recently reported enforcement actions at the B Street Cruise Terminal. In accordance with California law, including SB 54, Harbor Police does not participate in immigration enforcement activities.
The B Street Cruise Terminal is a federal port of entry, where law enforcement authority for immigration and customs matters rests with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Because cruise vessels traverse international waters, CBP is on site whenever there is a ship returning to port. As such, any enforcement actions taken onboard vessels or within the federal inspection area fall under CBP’s jurisdiction.
Maritime attorney Michael Winkleman previously told 10News CBP does have jurisdiction over any ship in a U.S. port, as do other federal agencies like the FBI.
"CBP obviously had a reason to go on there. It could have been something criminal. It could have been something visa-related. It really could have been any number of other things," Winkleman said.
Watch ABC 10News' previous coverage of the incident below:
