Two arrested after ‘hazardous drone operation’ near Boston airport

Two people have been arrested after allegedly conducting a “hazardous drone operation” near the airspace of the US city of Boston’s main airport, police said.

Robert Duffy, 42, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, were arrested on Long Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands, on Saturday night.

They were charged with trespassing and police said they may face further charges and fines over the drones, which were “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport, said police.

Their arrests follow a series of drone sightings across the US north-east in recent weeks. Police have given no indication that the sightings are connected to these arrests.

Police said the incident in Boston occurred at 16:30 local time (21:30 GMT) when a police officer detected a drone operating “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport.

Police said they identified the drone’s location and tracked the operators’ position to a decommissioned health campus on Long Island. Because of the drone’s proximity to an airport, FBI counter-terrorism agents helped the investigation.

When officers arrived on the scene, police said three people attempted to flee, two of whom – Mr Duffy and Mr Folcik, were apprehended. A drone was discovered in a backpack carried by Mr Duffy, police said.

The third suspect is believed to have fled the island in a small vessel and has not so far been found.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Duffy and Mr Folcik had legal representation. Police said they were yet to be arraigned.

US government officials have been seeking to reassure residents of the north-east that no threats have been identified in relation to hundreds of drone sightings across the area.

Flying objects have been reported in states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts – with the most sightings reported in New Jersey.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the government was deploying additional resources, personnel and technology to assist New Jersey police in investigating.

In an interview with ABC News, he said that the department was working in “close co-ordination” with state and local authorities, adding it was “critical” they be given the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision.

His comments follow New York state Governor Kathy Hochul’s demands for more state powers to tackle the issue, after runways at Stewart Airfield had to shut down for about an hour on Friday night.

“Congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones,” she added on Sunday, after announcing that a drone detection system was being sent to New York.

Mayorkas said the rise in drone sightings could be to do with a change in federal law last year that allows drones to be flown at night.

“That may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk,” he said.

He also said he knew of “no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the north-east”.