Customs officers expected a routine passenger inspection in Juneau. What they found led investigators to multiple victims, fraudulent documents, and a federal identity theft case.
A Philippine national who posed as an American citizen to board an Alaska-bound cruise ship and then used stolen credit card information to pull cash from the vessel’s casino was sentenced June 17 to more than four years in federal prison.
Enrico Ronquillo, 38, a lawful permanent resident, pleaded guilty in February to one count of false impersonation of a U.S. citizen and one count of aggravated identity theft. In addition to the prison term, the court ordered one year of supervised release and more than $25,000 in restitution. Ronquillo will face deportation proceedings after completing his sentence.
On May 11, 2025, Ronquillo boarded a cruise ship in Seattle bound for Alaska, submitting an online passenger application that listed a real U.S. citizen’s name, date of birth, and home address. Cruise ships traveling through international waters are required to maintain accurate passenger manifests for inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Ronquillo’s application falsely represented him as an American.
Three days later, when the ship docked in Juneau, CBP officers boarded and searched Ronquillo’s backpack. Inside they found two birth certificates and what appeared to be a fraudulent California driver’s license bearing the personal information of a man who had reported losing his original license in Las Vegas in 2023. Ronquillo was also carrying a significant amount of cash. Investigators later determined he had used a separate victim’s credit card information to obtain money at the ship’s onboard casino.
The Alaska case was not Ronquillo’s first encounter with federal agents on a cruise ship. Miami-Dade police arrested Ronquillo, then 36, and a woman identified as Jaclyn Abaya, 46, both of Las Vegas, after the MSC Magnifica docked at PortMiami. CBP agents had detained the pair in their cabin after learning Abaya had an outstanding fugitive warrant from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. A search of the cabin turned up two bags of methamphetamine and a credit card skimmer. Further searches produced multiple fictitious and altered birth certificates, fake Nevada and Florida driver’s licenses, a book with bank card numbers written inside, blank laminated material used to manufacture fraudulent documents, and several bank and credit cards belonging to other people. Authorities said the pair used seven different bank cards for shipboard transactions totaling $12,898. Both made admissions to detectives, according to arrest reports. Ronquillo was held at Metro West Detention Center on a $40,000 bond; Abaya was held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $25,000 bond and an out-of-state fugitive warrant. They faced six felony charges including organized scheme to defraud, possession of a skimming device, trafficking in counterfeit credit cards, and fraudulent use of personal identification.
A federal grand jury indicted Ronquillo on June 10, 2025. He pleaded guilty eight months later.
The prosecution was brought as part of Operation Take Back America, a DOJ-wide initiative targeting illegal immigration, cartels, and transnational criminal organizations.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office and Juneau Resident Agency, along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Alaska State Troopers, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Transportation Security Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement, Federal Air Marshals, and the FBI Los Angeles Field Office assisted. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Schmidt prosecuted.
