LOS ANGELES: A Chinese language citizen has been charged with flying a drone over Vandenberg Area Power Base in California the place he’s alleged to have recorded photos of the army facility, the US Justice Division stated on Wednesday (Dec 11).
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was arrested as he readied to board a flight to China from San Francisco, authorities stated.
“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a army base and took images of the bottom’s structure, which is towards the legislation,” United States Lawyer Martin Estrada stated.
“The safety of our nation is of paramount significance and my workplace will proceed to advertise the protection of our nation’s army personnel and services.”
Chinese language overseas ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stated she was “not conscious of the scenario” when requested concerning the case at a daily press briefing on Thursday.
Charging paperwork say detection methods at Vandenberg tracked a drone because it flew about 1.6km above the power in late November.
Safety personnel on the base, which is the launch website for area missions – together with Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets – in addition to missile checks, traced the drone to a close-by public park the place they allegedly discovered Zhou with the machine hid in his jacket.
Brokers who acquired a search warrant examined the drone, which contained aerial pictures of the bottom.
