Justice Department attorneys announced the arrest of a Chinese national who allegedly took pictures of Vandenberg Space Force Base with a drone before trying to board a flight to China.
The drone detection systems at Vandenberg Space Force Base found a drone that was flying over the facility for nearly an hour, after which security went to the nearby park from which the drone was launched. They encountered Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident Yinpiao Zhou with the drone concealed in his jacket, as well as another person accompanying him.
Investigators searched the drone operated by Zhou and encountered “several photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base taken from an aerial viewpoint,” while his cell phone showed that Zhou had searched online about drone rules at Vandenberg Space Force Base and contacted another person about hacking his drone to fly higher than normal capabilities.
“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of the base's layout, which is against the law,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement from the Justice Department about the incident. “The security of our nation is of paramount importance and my office will continue to promote the safety of our nation’s military personnel and facilities.”
Zhou was arrested last week before attempting to board a flight at San Francisco International Airport bound for China. The suspect remains in federal custody and has been charged with “failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace.”
Vandenberg Space Force Base, which is located in California, launches spacecraft and enables missile testing. The facility has launch pads for NASA and commercial space firms like SpaceX.
The incident comes days after Justice Department attorneys revealed that Chinese illegal alien Shenghua Wen was arrested for allegedly exporting firearms to North Korea from California. The suspect hid the weapons in shipping containers bound from Long Beach to Hong Kong.
Wen had remained in the United States after the expiration of his student visa, meaning that the Chinese national could not legally possess firearms, as well as lacked the relevant licenses from the federal government which are required to export firearms and ammunition overseas.
