CBP deports 27 crew members of vessels suspected of possessing CSEM material
NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has fired 27 cruise ship workers suspected of being involved in receiving or producing child pornography, the agency said in a statement on Monday.
CBP boarded 8 passengers transported to San Diego from April 23-27 as part of an ongoing investigation into child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), CBP told Fox News Digital.
The agency arrested 28 employees and determined that 27 of them “were involved in receiving, handling, transporting, distributing, or viewing CSEM or child pornography,” a spokesperson for the agency told Fox News Digital.
CBP canceled the visas of 27 people, 26 of whom were from the Philippines, and sent them back to their countries.
DISNEY CRUISE CREW MEMBER SUSPECTED OF CHILDREN’S CONCERT — THIRD ARRESTED ON SAME CHARGES THIS YEAR
Aerial view showing the San Diego skyline and harbor in California. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group)
At least ten of those arrested were Disney Cruise Line employees, according to NewsNation.
A spokesperson for Disney Cruise Line told NBC News that they have a “zero tolerance policy for this type of behavior” and that the company is fully cooperating with the investigation.
“Although most of these people were not on our boat list, those who were no longer with the company,” said an NBC spokesperson.
DISNEY FAILED TO PROTECT GUESTS FROM ‘UPSKIRT’ PICTURES, LEGAL ALLEGATIONS.
An aerial view of the Disney Wonder cruise ship docked at B Street Pier on March 20, 2020 in San Diego, California. At least 10 suspects in the US Customs and Border Protection CSEM investigation were Disney Wonder employees. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Another cruise liner, Holland America, also confirmed to NBC that some of its employees are involved in the investigation. The company called the allegations “deeply troubling” and told NBC that employees had been “terminated.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California told KPBS that there are no pending charges against those individuals in the district.
Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Fantasy ship docks in Falmouth, Jamaica, on May 2, 2018. (Stock)
A source with knowledge of CBP operations told Fox News Digital that the deportation bar is lower than it would be to prosecute criminal suspects.
“A criminal conviction is not required for a person to be found inadmissible or to have their visa revoked; the administrative threshold for visa cancellation is not the same as the standards for criminal prosecution,” the source told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
“Visa revocations may occur when information comes to light after the initial visa issuance that would prevent admission to the United States. CBP has the authority to cancel visas and deny admission whenever new information comes to light,” the source concluded.
Fox News Digital contacted the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, Disney Cruise Line and Holland America but did not immediately receive a response.
