Northern California Man Arrested for Allegedly Flying Drone Over and Photographing Vandenberg Space Force Base

LOS ANGELES - A Northern California man has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint for allegedly flying a drone over and taking photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Justice Department announced today.

Yinpiao Zhou, 39, of Brentwood, is charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace.

Zhou was arrested Monday at San Francisco International Airport prior to boarding a China-bound flight and made his initial appearance Tuesday in United States District Court in San Francisco.

Zhou remains in federal custody pending prosecutors' appeal of a federal magistrate judge's decision to release him. No plea was taken and his arraignment is expected to be scheduled in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

"This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of that base, which is against the law," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "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."

According to an affidavit filed on December 8 with the complaint, on November 30, 2024, drone detection systems at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County detected a drone flying over the base. The drone systems detected that the drone flew for nearly one hour, traveled to an altitude of almost one mile above ground level, and originated from Ocean Park, a public area next to the base. Base security personnel went to the park, spoke to Zhou and another person accompanying him, and learned that Zhou had a drone concealed in his jacket - the same one that flew over the base.

Agents later searched Zhou's drone pursuant to a federal search warrant and saw several photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base taken from an aerial viewpoint. A search of Zhou's cellphone showed Zhou conducted a Google search approximately one month earlier for the phrase "Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules" and messaged with another person about hacking his drone to allow it to fly higher than it could otherwise.

Zhou is a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States, most recently returning to the United States from China in February 2024. The person accompanying Zhou at Ocean Park most recently entered the United States from China on November 26.

A complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, the defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of four years in federal prison.

The FBI is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Kedar S. Bhatia of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section and Trial Attorney Benjamin Koenigsfeld of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

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