A Canadian citizen has been charged by U.S. authorities for allegedly using a drone to take photos of a military base in Florida.
Xiao Guang Pan, 71, faces three counts of using an unmanned aircraft to photograph vital defence installations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, according to a Feb. 13 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. On three separate days in January 2025, Pan allegedly also took aerial pictures of space launch complexes, a submarine wharf, and munitions bunkers.
U.S. federal law prohibits the unauthorized photographing of vital defence installations or equipment. If convicted, Pan could face up to one year in federal prison on each count.
A bio published on the website of the Brampton Arts Organization says that Pan, a Brampton resident, was born in China and immigrated to Canada in 2001. It adds that he started taking drone footage in 2019.
An Instagram account under the same name as Pan says he is a photographer and licensed drone pilot. While most of the photos posted on the account feature scenic views and cityscapes from Canada, the latest posts in December 2024 have been from Orlando, Florida.
Multiple U.S. security and intelligence agencies are investigating Pan’s case, including Homeland Security Investigations, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Chinese Arrested
The incident comes on the heels of the case of Chinese national Yinpiao Zhou, 39, who was detained for similar charges at the San Francisco International Airport just before boarding a flight to China. Zhou was arrested for allegedly flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
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Federal agents allege that Zhou flew a drone over the base on Nov. 30, the same day Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a sensitive payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon’s two prototype relay stations for a space-based internet service it calls Project Kuiper, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 6, 2023. Joe Skipper/Reuters
Drone detection systems at the base tracked a drone flying over the base for nearly an hour at an altitude of nearly 1 mile (1.6 kilometres), according to a court release. Security traced the drone’s origin to Ocean Park, a public area near the base, where they found Zhou allegedly concealing the drone in his jacket. Another individual with Zhou, whose identity was not disclosed, had most recently entered the United States from China on Nov. 26, the release said.
Agents later searched Zhou’s cellphone and discovered he had allegedly researched drone rules at the base and messaged someone about hacking his drone to increase its flight height. Zhou, currently charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count, could face up to four years in federal prison.
“Zhou did not make a youthful mistake or mere accident,” a Dec. 12 court filing said. “This was a planned scheme that risked exposing—and may have exposed—meaningful national security information through aerial photography of an air force base.”
In December, the U.S. government addressed concerns over the rising number of reports involving unmanned aircraft across states, including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, California, Ohio, and Utah. More than 5,000 drone sightings were reported, generating “approximately 100 leads,” according to a Dec. 17 joint statement released by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Jill McLaughlin contributed to this report.
