The U.S. government is investigating whether a Chinese national arrested on suspicion of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California committed other crimes.
Last week, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced that Impiao Chou, 39, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was charged with “failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national national airspace. ” announced. ”
However, according to court filings, “the government continues to investigate whether Mr. Chou has committed more serious crimes.”
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The Chinese flag was photographed at the medal ceremony for the women's judo 63kg class at the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang Province, China, on September 25, 2023. (Philip Fung/AFP via Getty Images)
Mr. Zhou has not been charged with spying on behalf of China, but in an affidavit justifying the arrest warrant, the FBI agent leading the investigation against Mr. Zhou described his experience as follows: There is. Efforts undertaken to gather information about hostile nations and elements of military infrastructure of interest to those nations. ”
According to a press release about the arrest, Mr. Zhou was arrested on Dec. 9 before boarding a flight to China.
“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photographs of its layout, which is a violation of the law,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada.
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The Department of Justice emblem is displayed on a podium prior to a press conference announcing efforts to combat computer hacking and extortion at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2018. (Mandel Gann/AFP via Getty Images)
The release cited an affidavit and reported that a drone was spotted over the facility on Nov. 30.
“Drone systems detected that the drone had been in flight for nearly an hour, traveling to an altitude of nearly a mile above the ground, and transmitting from Ocean Park, a public area adjacent to the base,” the press release stated. There is. “Base security went to the park and interviewed Mr. Chou and his companion, and learned that Mr. Chou had a drone hidden inside his jacket, which was the same one that had flown over the base. Ta.
“Investigators then searched Mr. Chou's drone pursuant to a federal search warrant and found several aerial photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base. A search of Mr. Chou's cell phone revealed that Mr. Chou was approx. Turns out I had Googled the phrase 'Vandenberg Space Force Base' a month ago.'' Another person about hacking drones to fly higher than normal according to the 'Drone Rules.' I sent a message to. ”
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Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security told ABC's “This Week” that some of the sightings included drones, but others were “manned aircraft that are often mistaken for drones.” He said he was “not aware of any foreign involvement” in connection with the “sightings in the northeast.”
FOX News' Lee Roth contributed to this report.
