Swiss engineer arrested for illegal anti-drone system sales
A Swiss engineer and an Italian entrepreneur were arrested in Rome by the financial crime police for illegally producing and selling anti-drone systems.
According to the Italian news agency AdnKronos on Saturday, the “drone ranger” systems were sold to the armed forces of certain Middle Eastern countries. They can detect, track and neutralise Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) by jamming the remote control frequency as well as the global satellite navigation system. These systems are however classified as war materiel by Italy.
Five other people were also charged but not arrested. The police were able to identify the supply chain from manufacturer to final clients. The systems were to be exported to Spain and later sold to Arab clients. However, no request for permission to export was made to the foreign ministry. The two arrested had already signed contracts worth more than €3.5 million euros (CHF4.1 million). Other contracts worth around €36 million were to follow.
More
Anti-drone eagles being trained to serve on Geneva police force
More
What Trump’s return or a new Harris administration would mean for Switzerland
More
Documentary portrays Swiss teenagers forced to return to parents’ homeland
More
Gold-digging: why some Swiss bury their wealth in the garden
More
Love at new heights: Swiss hiker creates ‘Tinder for the mountains’
More
Davos entourages will face 10-fold price increase next year
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.