Tobar

Plaintiffs are Ecuadorian crew members of a fishing boat. The United States Coast Guard saw their boat in international waters near the Galapagos Islands and suspected it of involvement with smuggling drugs. The Coast Guard stopped Plaintiffs’ boat and boarded it. Tests performed on the vessel yielded suspicious but inconclusive results and, with the consent of the Ecuadorian government, the Coast Guard towed the boat to Ecuador. Further tests conducted by the Ecuadorian government uncovered no contraband, and no charges were filed against Plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs then sued the United States for damages resulting from these events. The district court held that the United States had not waived its sovereign immunity over this action and, accordingly, dismissed the action. Reviewing de novo, Harger v. Dep’t of Labor, 569 F.3d 898, 903 (9th Cir.2009), we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Because the district court dismissed this action on the pleadings, we take as true the allegations of the complaint. Cell Therapeutics Inc. v. Lash Grp. Inc., 586 F.3d 1204 , 1206 n. 2 (9th Cir.2010). Plaintiffs allege that, “[o]n or about October 5,…