Statistics on the number of crimes committed using drones are difficult to find. Various data appears in the media. For example, in 2016, UK law enforcement reported that illegal drone activity increased by 3,521 TP3T between 2014 and 2015, and over 272 drone-related incidents were recorded in the first five months of 2016. It's worth noting that most of these cases involved drug dealers or pedophiles using drones to stalk victims in playgrounds.
Drones allow us to capture breathtaking landscapes, deliver packages, patrol areas, and perform many other useful functions. However, while this revolutionary technology is changing our lives, it can pose a threat if used for nefarious purposes. After all, criminals are among the first to embrace new technologies. Here are the top 10 crimes involving drones.
1. Removing the ATM keypad
When you go to an ATM to withdraw money, you probably want to make sure no one is watching you enter your personal identification number (PIN). However, you're unlikely to be looking up at the sky while doing so. In August 2016, a drone filming people standing near an ATM was spotted in Templepatrick, Northern Ireland. The drone may have been monitoring people entering their PINs. Once someone noticed the drone misplacing its camera, it flew away and collided with a nearby taxi. Although the man suspected of operating the drone was forced to pay the taxi owner for damages, police were unable to prove that the footage was recorded with criminal intent.
2. Drug Delivery to Ohio Prison
Instead of trying to smuggle the drugs, friends of an inmate loaded 7 grams of heroin, 57 grams of marijuana, and 142 grams of tobacco onto a drone and sent it flying over the walls of the Mansfield Correctional Facility in Mansfield, Ohio. As soon as the drone dropped the drugs, a fight broke out between inmates over the "gifts." Prison officials managed to quell the riot, but had to search nearly 200 inmates to find the drugs. The nine inmates who started the fight were placed in solitary confinement.
3. Delivery of weapons to an Oklahoma prison
Another criminal group took note of the aforementioned incident at the Ohio State Penitentiary. However, they expanded their "delivery repertoire" to include a cell phone, hacksaws, drugs, and super glue. The criminals attached all of this to a drone with fishing line so the contraband could be easily retrieved. Unfortunately for the criminals, the drone snagged on the prison walls' barbed wire and crashed, forcing inmates to fight over its luggage until prison staff intervened. The broken drone was seized by police as evidence, but it is unknown if anyone was arrested for the incident.
4. Hacking
To catch a hacker, you have to think like one. Fran Brown and David Latimer, both of Bishop Fox, a security consulting firm, developed a drone capable of accessing various types of Wi-Fi networks. This hacking method, dubbed the Danger Drone, consists of a Raspberry Pi computer tethered to the drone's body. The computer is equipped with hacking software and has a range of 1.6 kilometers. It can be manipulated using a standard radio control, but it can be configured to receive signals via cell towers. For example, the Danger Drone can "rickroll" vulnerable Chromecast devices. This is the equivalent of secretly changing the TV channel.
5. Military actions
Militants from the Islamic State (banned in Russia) acquired hundreds of inexpensive, portable unmanned aerial vehicles. These devices were used in combat in Iraq and Syria. When the ISIS stronghold of Mosul was captured in 2017, Iraqi forces discovered numerous drone factories. The militants were producing two types of drones: one could drop light explosives, while the other detonated upon approaching a target. Some of the drones that dropped explosives also filmed the attack. Other terrorist groups, such as Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, also adopted drones, but on a relatively limited scale.
6. Burglary
In June 2018, a drone was spotted over a village in Cambridgeshire, England, for four consecutive days. A few days later, a local resident's home was burglarized. The thieves knew the best entry point, as they easily broke in through a bathroom window and ransacked the home. However, police were unable to connect the drone surveillance to the burglary.
7. Flights over restricted areas
In 2017, nearly 250 unregistered drones were detected at airports worldwide. This poses a serious risk to large aircraft, as drones can be sucked into engines or fly through cockpit windows, potentially injuring or even killing pilots. Rosaviatsiya plans to deploy specialized equipment around airports to force drones to land if they enter restricted areas. However, there are currently no dedicated units at airfields to combat illegal drones.
8. Obstructing the release of hostages
Third place in the list of crimes committed using drones is taken by a story that occurred in 2017. A team of FBI agents was planning a hostage rescue operation in an American city. While the entire rescue team was at an observation post assessing the situation, a swarm of drones approached them. Not only were the criminals waiting for the FBI to arrive, but cameras attached to the drones continuously broadcast video of the agents to YouTube. Criminals also use drones to identify potential informants visiting police stations.
9. Voyeurism
In 2017, a surveillance drone was "caught" in Utah. John Henson was getting ready for work. When he got out of the shower, he heard the drone buzzing outside his bathroom window. When he opened the window, the drone flew away. However, John pursued it until the drone landed in a church parking lot. Henson grabbed the device and called the police. Officers discovered that the red lights on the drone had been taped over to allow it to fly undetected in the dark. They examined the camera footage and discovered that the drone was filming someone's private life. Police were able to track down the two drone owners and charged them with voyeurism.
10. Assassination attempt on the President of Venezuela
On August 4, during a military parade in Caracas, assailants attempted to assassinate Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The assassination attempt was carried out using drones armed with C4 explosives. At least one of the drones was shot down by a sniper, and security guards protected their target with bulletproof shields. In a televised address to the nation, Maduro claimed that the Colombian authorities and President Juan Manuel Santos personally were to blame for the assassination attempt. However, he provided no evidence of their culpability. So far, a little-known group, the National Movement of T-Shirt Soldiers, has claimed responsibility for the drone attack.
11. A photo of a sunbathing woman ended up on a billboard
In 2014, 50-year-old Mandy Lingard from Australia was deeply offended to discover her photo had been posted on a billboard without her consent. Typically, such a situation would only result in a minor lawsuit. However, the woman was photographed sunbathing wearing only a thong, leaving her entire family embarrassed.
The photo was taken by a drone belonging to a real estate agent. The agent uploaded the photo online, published it in a real estate magazine, and hung it on a large billboard. The image was quickly removed from the billboard, but Lingard still felt her rights had been violated. Australian laws regarding photographing people on their property are currently not as strict as they should be. Another Darwin woman was filmed naked in a pool in 2017.
12. Theft
To steal someone else's property, drones are equipped with mechanical devices to grab objects on the ground. For example, according to The Independent, criminals in the British county of Shropshire have begun using drones to steal cannabis from plantations.
13. Murder
Criminals can use drone weapons (guns, missiles, bombs) to assassinate undesirable individuals. However, for now, they are primarily used in counterterrorism operations. For example, according to American media, in early 2016, Jalal Balidi, the leader of the ISIS* terrorist group in Yemen, was killed in a drone strike.
14. Causing death by negligence
Accidents involving drones are becoming more common, and when they fall, they threaten human lives. In December 2015, a large drone carrying a camera crashed onto the piste during Austrian slalom skier Marcel Hirscher's performance at a World Cup stage in Italy. The incident could have ended tragically, but the athlete was miraculously unharmed.
15. Violation of privacy
Western journalists are actively using quadcopters to stalk celebrities. For example, the media haven't left the famous racing driver Michael Schumacher alone. They're using drones to monitor the Formula 1 star's home, where he's recovering from a serious skiing injury.
16. Smuggling of funds
No drones have been recorded smuggling currency across the Russian border. While it's theoretically possible, in practice, border airspace is strictly controlled.
17. Smuggling of alcohol and tobacco products
Cigarettes are primarily smuggled across the border using quadcopters. This illegal business is currently thriving in Ukraine. Dealers import drones duty-free into Ukraine, ostensibly for reconnaissance in the ATO zone, and then resell them to smugglers. They attach cartons of cigarettes to these miniature radio-controlled airplanes and ship them across the border, as cigarettes are several times more expensive abroad.
18. Terrorist act
A drone controlled by a terrorist is a terrifying weapon. Fortunately, drones have not yet been used in terrorist attacks. But there have been dangerous precedents. In September 2013, during a Christian Democratic Union election campaign event in Dresden, a 40-centimeter drone, out of control, suddenly fell at Chancellor Angela Merkel's feet. The Chancellor remained calm, but Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière was visibly nervous: the drone could have been packed with explosives.
19. Hooliganism
Drones often fly in secure areas—they're specifically deployed there by operators to test the military's vigilance. Japanese police have been particularly adept at catching rogue drones flying in unauthorized areas. To detect them, they use specialized drones that immobilize the offenders electronically.
20. Illegal transportation of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
A highly effective method for transporting small quantities of drugs. While there haven't been any such cases in Russia yet, they're not uncommon in the West. Mostly, drones are used to smuggle drugs into prisons. This is especially common in the US and Canada. For example, in Melbourne two years ago, a drone was spotted hovering over a local correctional facility. Police soon discovered a man and woman in a car parked nearby. The man was piloting a small drone, which he used to smuggle drugs into the prison.
21. Smuggling of poisonous, toxic, explosive, and radioactive substances
There have been no recorded cases of such substances being transported across borders using drones globally. However, it is theoretically possible.
22. Illegal search for archaeological objects
Scientists from many countries are already using data obtained by unmanned aerial vehicles in archaeological research. It's therefore possible that illegal excavators will soon take up the use of drones for aerial reconnaissance.
23. Illegal hunting
Hunters have been using drones in their expeditions for several years, but only recently have animal rights activists and politicians begun to take notice and implement regulations to limit their use.
24. Sabotage
Drones can be used to blow up infrastructure, industrial, and transport facilities. They are typically used during military operations.
25. Espionage
In some countries in Asia and the Middle East, drones are actively used to extract secrets from foreign countries. They are launched both from the territory of the country that holds the secrets and from across borders.