Yinpiao Zhou, a Chinese national, was arrested on Monday and charged with using a drone to photograph Vandenberg Space Force Base outside Santa Barbara, California.
Zhou, 39, was charged with failing to register an aircraft that does not provide transportation and violating national airspace, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said. said in a release.
He was arrested at San Francisco International Airport before boarding a flight to China.
Vandenberg's detection system detected the drone on November 30th. Officials said the plane flew for nearly an hour, traveling to an altitude of about a mile above the ground and departing from a public area of the marine park near the base.
When officials went to the park, they discovered that Zhou had “hidden a drone inside his jacket.” He was accompanied by another person who arrived in the United States from China on Nov. 26.
Authorities later searched Chou's drone using a federal search warrant and found several photos of the Space Force base. A search of his phone also revealed that he had performed a Google search for the phrase “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Regulations” a month earlier, according to the release.
Officials said the man had previously exchanged messages with another person about hacking the drone and flying it higher than normal.
Mr. Zhou is a Chinese national and lawful permanent resident of the United States, and he last visited China in February 2024.
If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of four years in federal prison.
The FBI is investigating this matter.
