On the first day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as thousands gathered at the fan festival in East Downtown, John Alexander Meza allegedly began flying a drone.
It was Thursday, June 11 — a day when no World Cup matches were being played in Houston — when Meza allegedly began flying a DJI Mavic 3 drone for about 2 minutes. His purpose, he would later tell law enforcement, was to capture video for Houston's First Baptist Church.
Meza, whose LinkedIn profile labels him as a cinematographer for the church, was flying the drone near the 600 block of Live Oak Street in East Downtown, just a few blocks from the fan fest. Throughout the entirety of the World Cup, EaDo was named as a “no drone zone” by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), prohibiting drones from flying within a mile radius of the fan festival up to 1,000 feet in the air. There were more stringent drone restrictions near NRG Stadium on the seven days when World Cup matches were played there.
When law enforcement found Meza, he allegedly confirmed he had been the drone's pilot, according to court records obtained byHouston Public Media, which show that he told them he was getting video of Houston's First Baptist Church. He also said he did not have a remote pilot certificate, nor did he check for airspace beforehand, court records show.
Meza now faces federal charges of violating national defense airspace, punishable by up to a year in prison and fines of up to $100,000. Attorneys for Meza did not immediately return a request for comment; nor did Houston's First Baptist Church.
Meza is one of as many as 16 people now facing the prospect of federal charges for flying drones in restricted airspace during the World Cup. Two others — Huu An Nguyen Dinh of Pearland and Jordan Lee Zale of Richmond — were publicly named by Houston's FBI office, though others were not publicly identified.
Dinh's attorney attorney declined to comment. Zale's attorney did not immediately respond. Both told authorities they were flying drones to produce images of real estate, according to court documents.
Earlier this month, FBI Houston said 44 drones were seized and 16 federal charges were brought for drone-related matters. Asked by aHouston Public Mediareporter how many people were facing those 16 charges, a spokesperson for the field office said 16 was not the final number, deferring to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately return a request for comment.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also reported seizing nearly 20,000 counterfeit FIFA World Cup items from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport throughout the tournament. Those items were worth a total of $9 million in fake merchandise, according to the agency.
The fraudulent merchandise included jerseys, shorts, shot glasses, handheld fans, soccer balls, whiskey decanters and more, according to a news release from CBP. The jerseys resembled the uniforms of the United States, Mexico, Portugal, France, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Ecuador.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said 21 complaints had been filed in federal court records but “cannot speculate as to any other or future charges.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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