Nearly 100 drones seized during Atlanta's FIFA World Cup events, FBI officials say

The FBI said its agents seized nearly 100 drones during the FIFA World Cup in Atlanta. The agency said operators are now waiting to learn what penalties they could face.

"We established teams and those teams were comprised of individuals from federal, state and local law enforcement," said Marlo Graham, special agent in charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office.

Graham said their success can be attributed to a group effort and collaboration.

"You had participants from the FAA that were familiar with drones. You had the FBI who was kind of taking the lead in the operation. You had the Atlanta Police Department that had individuals who were familiar with the city in and around the city, and then we had other state and local law enforcement partners that comprised the makeup of the team," she added.

The FBI held a news conference Tuesday, showing some of the drones seized and highlighting the agency's role in helping secure the World Cup.

The bureau said Atlanta hosted more than 500,000 spectators at eight World Cup matches and more than 500,000 additional visitors at the FIFA Fan Festival. Officials said there were no major security incidents during the tournament.

The FBI said it assigned about 300 personnel to support security operations in the Atlanta area. Agents also completed 11,222 background checks for people needing credentialed access to secure locations.

Officials said the FBI enforced Temporary Flight Restrictions around official venues. As a result, agents seized 95 drones that the bureau said were flown into restricted airspace by violators. Agents arrested one drone operator.

The FBI said the operators whose drones agents seized received tickets and have court dates. The bureau said it is working with the United States Attorney's Office to determine whether those operators will face fines or other penalties.

"Those individuals collectively work to encounter the pilots and collect the evidence as the drones were being seized," said Graham.

The FBI said many of the lessons learned during the World Cup will be used during future major events in Atlanta, including the Super Bowl.

"This type of operation will be enacted because I believe what we've seen here during FIFA is a best practice for drone mitigation," said Graham.