ATLANTA — The FBI and Atlanta Police Department are getting ready for a massive security operation ahead of the World Cup semifinals between England and Argentina at Atlanta Stadium. Both agencies have used drones to search for potential threats on the ground and in the sky.The FBI is enforcing the Federal Aviation Administration's Temporary Flight Restrictions around the venue. The FBI has confiscated more than 600 drones nationwide since the World Cup began.
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office Marlo Graham said 86 of those drones were seized in Atlanta. Graham said the FBI uses a "mechanism" that allows agents to see unauthorized drones in restricted airspace.Agents then work to mitigate the threat posed by unknown drones."We've been able to safely land drones that have been unauthorized in the flight restricted area," Graham said. The FBI has confiscated more than 600 drones at World Cup events since the tournament started.
(FBI Atlanta)While the FBI treats every drone as a potential threat, Graham said the threat level can increase depending on the size of the drone and how close it gets to the stadium."Obviously, the closer to the venue, the larger the crowd.We are fortunate here in Atlanta that we have a closed dome stadium," Graham said.
"We don't want the game to be impacted because a hobbyist couldn't control their drone, and it lands right when one of our star players was getting ready to score a goal."EXCLUSIVE: FBI ADDS ALLEGED COVID FRAUDSTER TO MOST WANTED LISTThe Atlanta Police Department's Drone Unit has helped the FBI track down people suspected of flying in restricted zones. Sgt.Kindu Franklin said most of the people caught flying drones around World Cup venues are hobbyists with no intent to harm the crowd of soccer fans below."In some cases, they just recently bought a drone just for FIFA to get some of the cool footage that they want to put up on their social media," Franklin said.
"There are different ways that yo...