Yinpiao Zhou, 39, a Chinese citizen and U.S. resident, was accused of flying a drone and taking photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. He was charged with “failure to register an aircraft, not providing transportation, and violation of national defense airspace,” according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California. 

Zhou was arrested at San Francisco International Airport on Monday before boarding a flight to China, the Justice Department said. He appeared at a United States District Court in San Francisco on Tuesday and is being held in federal custody “pending prosecutors’ appeal of a federal magistrate judge’s decision to release him.”

“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of the base’s layout, 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.”

Court documents revealed that a drone operated by Zhou initiated the drone detection system at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 30. The device hovered over the base for approximately one hour, reaching a peak altitude nearly one mile above ground level. It was determined that the drone’s operator deployed it from a park in close proximity to the base. Vandenberg security officials confronted Zhou at the park and noticed him hiding a drone in his outerwear.  

The Justice Department announced that officials obtained a federal search warrant for the drone and discovered aerial viewpoint pictures of the base on the device. A search of Zhou’s cellphone revealed messages with another person inquiring about how to increase the drone’s flight height and a Google search for “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules.”

The drone incident in California comes after numerous reports of drone sightings over the country’s Mid-Atlantic region, including the New York City and Philadelphia areas. Government officials remain unsure of the operators and motives for the drones along the East Coast.

“These are not U.S. military drones,” said Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, about the drones along the East Coast. “At this time, we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary.”