Brampton man deported from U.S. after NASA detects drone activity near Cape Canaveral

A red and black quadcopter drone is seen flying in this stock image. (Pok Rie/Pexels)

A Brampton, Ont., man has been deported back to Canada from the United States after pleading guilty to using a drone to photograph military and space facilities in Florida.

Xiao Guang Pan was arrested in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 7, 2025, after NASA detected drone activity near Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), according to court documents obtained by CTV News.

Officers with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office found Pan operating a DJI Mavic Pro 3 drone — a device with a 4K camera that retails anywhere between $2,500 and $5,000 — from a parking lot near the facility and informed federal law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced charges against Pan on Feb. 13, alleging he took photos of “vital defence installations and equipment,” including aerial photographs of Space Launch complexes, a payload processing facility, a submarine wharf, and munitions bunkers.

Hundreds of images taken

According to the documents, Pan took some 250 photographs and videos of “vital military installations” at the facility on Jan. 5, 6 and 7. Data from the device showed he flew his drone nine times and took a total of 1,919 photos and videos over the three days.

Pan told the agents that he flew his drone to take pictures of the beauty of nature, the sunrise, and the cruise ship port, that he didn’t know he was near a military installation, and that he hadn’t seen any alerts about altitude and airspace violations from the drone while he was using it, according to the plea agreement.

However, the documents state that while searching Pan’s phone, agents found screenshots of the area from Google Maps, one of them prominently displaying the words “Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” Flight log data from the device also showed that the drone logged several alerts about being in restricted airspace and sent them to the operator through the handheld device.

On Aug. 12, Pan pleaded guilty to three counts of Use of Aircraft for the Unlawful Photographing of Defense Installation Without Authorization. He was sentenced to 12 months’ unsupervised probation provided that he return to Canada and never come back to the United States. He was also ordered to pay a US$75 assessment.

The investigation into the incident involved Homeland Security Investigations, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.), the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Air Marshal Service, NASA, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Neither Pan nor his lawyer returned multiple requests for comment.

Court documents show he entered the U.S. through the Windsor-Detroit crossing at the Ambassador Bridge on or around Nov. 2, 2024.

When asked if they were aware of the case and whether they are conducting their own probe into Pan, an RCMP spokesperson said in a statement they do not comment on ongoing investigations nor they comment on investigations conducted by other countries.

“The RCMP maintains situational awareness of potential threats to the safety and security of Canada and works closely with our law enforcement partners to address them,” RCMP spokesperson Robin Percival added.

Back in Canada

An Instagram account with Pan’s name showed many examples of drone photography from Canada and the U.S., many from around the Greater Toronto Area. The last few images on the account showed aerial images from Texas in November, and from Orlando in December. Nobody responded to a message sent to the account.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida confirmed that Pan’s permanent address is in Brampton, Ont., and that he has already been deported back to Canada.

A short online biography of a Brampton man with the same name and age on the website for the Brampton Arts Organization (BAO) describes Pan as having been born in China in 1953 and immigrating to Canada in 2001, settling in Brampton in 2003.

The bio describes him as “an enthusiastic drone photographer/videographer” whose hobby has taken him all over the U.S., Europe, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It also says he worked at Best Buy for 18 years before retiring in 2022.

In an email, the organization said Pan was just one of 50 artists whose work was selected to be part of an exhibit marking the city’s 50th birthday.

“The last time BAO had any contact with Mr. Pan was early last year when he was notified that his aerial photograph had been accepted for the PIXEL: Chapter 50 exhibition,” the organization wrote. “The information on our website about Mr. Pan is what he provided to BAO and we have no further knowledge about him, his art practice or activities.”

Over the past year there has been anxiety around drones in the U.S., with sightings in New Jersey back in December causing some panic. The White House eventually clarified that those drones had been authorized for research.