Drones to Prevent Fraud and Corruption

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Drones are increasingly used for remote monitoring and surveillance of borders and port and airport areas. Now they will also help increase the effectiveness of customs control and the prevention of smuggling.

Latvia’s State Revenue Service will use drones for customs control. The solution consists of a drone control software UgCS CC, developed by SPH Engineering, a high-endurance flying UAV platform manufactured by Finnish company VideoDrone, equipped with high-resolution surveillance cameras, as well as video management system Milestone XProtect and configured hardware platform (workstations/servers) required for successful operations provided by Mondot, the deliverer of the solution.

The UgCS CC software solution will allow to transfer a low latency, high-quality video stream from the drone not only to the operator’s ground control software but also to operational headquarters using safe mobile 4G/LTE connection. 

With UgCS CC it will be possible to record geo-referenced video and live-stream it to a video management software (VMS) to help to secure and resolve possible illegal activities efficiently. It will help the State Revenue Service to manage the video stream from drones as easily as the stationary video streams of traditional security cameras, providing the option for experts to survey locations from the office.

The new approach to customs controls is implemented with the financial support of the European Commission Hercule III program which is administered by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and aimed at promoting activities against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the European Union, according to suasnews.com.