The Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday confirmed that it is investigating the report of a drone repeatedly flying over the residence of businessman Azruddin Mohamed.
The suspect in the matter is Nathan Prince, Head of the Drone Unit at Sheriff Security. The flights took place during an operation by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Saturday to seize vehicles belonging to Mohamed over outstanding taxes.
According to Commander Simon McBean, the investigation is ongoing, but he did not confirm whether the drone had been recovered by authorities. “The matter is now being investigated, police will be looking into all aspects of the complaints and counter-complaints”, he told Stabroek News.
Flying drones over private property is against the aviation directives, says the Director General (DG) of Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Egbert Field.
“It would be against our aviation directives, we are now formulating regulation for drones, but it is in contravention of the aviation directives of which the operator is in receipt of, and as such, that can jeopardize his operating license/permit. In the aviation directives, it speaks to items within it about the privacy of individuals”, he said.
When asked whether the Authority can enforce the directives the DG said, “even though we don’t have regulations, the directives are just as enforceable, there is scope through the courts to take action in this regard, we will advise the court that this is the directive and the court will take the action with the police”.
Rules
On the GCAA website, posted are the following rules – “No person shall operate an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, irrespective of the dimensions or maximum weight of that aircraft, for the purposes of obtaining, recording, or transmitting information, whether in the visible spectrum or
otherwise, unless that person has obtained written authorization from the Authority to obtain, record, or transmit such information.”
Also, “The Pilot in Command of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle shall not fly the aircraft: e) over or near to private or public property without prior permission from the owner”.
Speaking with SN yesterday, Mohamed recounted the events that occurred over the weekend, beginning with a drone that hovered over his property for an extended period on Saturday.
“The drone was flying throughout the day, taking a lot of images and videos of my residence,” Mohamed said. “My security guards saw it across the road from my house. They watched as the drone landed in a black car, where a man, retrieved the drone before driving off.”
However, the situation escalated further on Sunday. Mohamed said that the same drone returned, flying as low as 15 feet above his property for approximately 20 minutes, capturing footage of his home. “It was flying only over my property, and that’s not allowed. You have to get permission from both the civil aviation authority and the property owners before flying a drone over someone’s land,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed’s security team took notice of the vehicle again, describing it as the same black car seen the day before. According to Mohamed, they were able to track the car to the McDoom area, where they intercepted the vehicle and called the police. “The man inside the vehicle refused to open the door for an hour,” Mohamed recounted. “When he eventually did, he destroyed the memory card of the drone’s footage right in front of the police and my team.”
Despite the evidence and a subsequent visit to the Ruimveldt Police Station, where the suspect was briefly detained, Mohamed expressed frustration over the lack of progress. “He [the drone operator] went into the station for two minutes, came out, and left. Since then, we’ve heard nothing from the police. They didn’t provide any updates, and the inspector said he couldn’t comment on the matter.”
Sources close to the matter related to SN that the drone operator was seen leaving the Ruimveldt police station with the drone and other related paraphernalia in hand.
This incident has raised concerns about the use of drones in Guyana, a sector that has seen significant growth in recent years. According to a June 2024 SN report, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of drones registered under the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), with over 700 drones now active in the country.
Since 2017, the GCAA has worked to regulate drone operations within Guyana’s airspace, issuing guidelines and implementing security clearance checks for drone operators. These checks include background investigations conducted by the GPF to ensure that drone operations are safe and compliant with the law. The GCAA has also introduced measures to speed up the approval process, reducing the clearance time from three months to approximately 26-28 days.
