Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in a joint operation with the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office, arrested 11 foreign nationals aboard cruise ships docked at the Port of Boston for alleged offenses of child sexual exploitation, as announced this Friday by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The detainees are nine citizens from the Philippines, one from Nepal, and another whose nationality has yet to be identified, all crew members of the Norwegian Escape cruise ship.
All were processed for expulsion from the country under Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which covers crimes involving moral turpitude.
The arrests are part of the “Operation Tidal Wave”, a multi-agency federal initiative aimed at combating the possession, distribution, and production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) among cruise ship crew members entering U.S. ports.
The operation extended beyond those 11 cases. A total of 14 crew members from the ships Norwegian Breakaway, Holland Volendam, and Vision of the Seas had already been detained during the month of August.
In total, in just over two weeks, the authorities expelled more than 24 cruise workers in Boston as part of this operation.
"In just over two weeks, CBP has removed cruise workers for possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, and we will not stop," stated Julio Caravia, Acting Field Operations Director of the Boston Office of CBP.
"I want this message to be loud and clear: CBP will not tolerate anyone possessing this material entering the United States. Those found engaging in this behavior will be arrested, removed, and will face significant consequences."
Operation Tidal Wave is led by the Compliance Operations Division of the CBP Field Operations Office, in coordination with HSI and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The initiative has been rolled out in progressive geographical phases throughout 2026.
The Phase 1 took place in San Diego in April and resulted in administrative actions against 27 crew members from six vessels. Phase 2 occurred in San Juan, Puerto Rico, between June and July, with 14 crew members removed and one individual accepted for federal processing.
In Boston, prior to the Norwegian Escape, 14 crew members had already been removed from the Norwegian Breakaway, Holland Volendam, and Vision of the Seas during August, marking the second operation of this kind at the port in less than a month.
Under U.S. federal law, any involvement with child sexual exploitation material is strictly prohibited and carries severe penalties, including criminal prosecution and inadmissibility to the country for 10 years.
ICE summarized the scope of the effort in a single sentence: "We work tirelessly around the clock to protect children from exploitation."
Esta operación forma parte de un esfuerzo más amplio de ICE y CBP en puertos y fronteras de Estados Unidos. Sigue de cerca todos los desarrollos en nuestra sección de
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