SEATTLE — The FBI says six drones were seized during Wednesday’s World Cup match in Seattle, bringing the total number to 22 during the three Seattle games.
A temporary flight restriction is in place for the stadiums during matches in downtown and surrounding areas. King County Sergeant of the Air Control Unit Jason Stanley says law enforcement agencies are trying to match the growing threats posed by the sheer number of drones.
“The world stage is kind of changing to the point where we’ve all seen how devastating and effective drones can be used as weapons. Ukraine and Russia are showing that to us almost nightly,” Stanley said.
Even locally, the FBI arrested a man in Mason County last Friday for allegedly planning to use drones to explode over the UFC match at the White House.
“There was a game scheduled for that day. So, we actually arrested him that morning.” U.S Assistant District Attorney Neil Floyd said, “Because of the potential threat that he posed and everything else that was happening in Seattle, we decided it was time to take action."
The King County Sheriff’s Office has technology that alerts them whenever a drone turns on or takes off in the flight-restricted area.
A team of deputies monitors real-time maps and has the ability to launch drones remotely to track the aircraft and pilots down.
Staley has been in law enforcement and responded to terroristic threats during his nearly 25-year career, and he says drone threats are one of the most alarming to him because of how available they are.
“They seem harder to imagine in society than something as easy as a $100 drone that you can pick up from a toy store or a big box store or something like that and somebody trying to weaponize that and use it against people.” Stanley said.
He says most of the people contacted simply were not aware of the rules.
“The best thing that we’ve had going so far is that most of these folks are kind of a careless and clueless variety. They don’t know that they shouldn’t be flying.”
The FBI says anyone flying needs to check for flight restrictions and recommends the FAA website for what guidelines people should follow.
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