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 on Wednesday.
Yinpiao Zhou, a 39-year-old resident of Brentwood in Contra Costa County, is reportedly charged with failure to register an aircraft and violation of national defense airspace.
Officials say Zhou was arrested on Monday at San Francisco International Airport prior to boarding a China-bound flight.
He made his initial appearance on Tuesday in United States District Court in San Francisco.
Zhou reportedly remains in federal custody.
No plea was taken and his arraignment is expected to be scheduled in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks, according to the Justice Department.
In an affidavit filed with the complaint, officials report that drone detection systems at Vandenberg Space Force Base discovered the drone on Nov. 30.
The document says 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 reportedly visited the park to speak to Zhou and another person accompanying him, where they learned that Zhou had the drone concealed in his jacket.
Agents later searched Zhou’s drone pursuant to a federal search warrant and found several photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base taken from an aerial viewpoint.
Authorities' search of Zhou’s cellphone revealed that he had conducted a Google search about 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.
Officials say 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 Nov. 26, according to agency representatives.
If convicted, the Justice Department says the defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of four years in federal prison.
The FBI is reportedly investigating this matter.
