The history of espionage is almost as old as history itself. Military, political or economic information from foreign powers was already considered valuable in ancient times. Scouts and spies were already on the move for Julius Caesar in ancient Rome, while the Egyptians sent out the eyes of the pharaoh to secure their power. Many centuries later, agents of Queen Elizabeth I intercepted coded letters from her Scottish rival Mary Stuart. And in the young Federal Republic of Germany, the unmasked GDR informer Günter Guillaume brought down Chancellor Willy Brandt.
How do spies or agents actually operate today?
"Professional James Bond-type agents still exist, but they usually remain invisible to us as police," explains Senior Criminal Investigator Şevket Akkuş. The 42-year-old is head of the newly created sub-department 23.3 at the Düsseldorf State Criminal Police Office, which deals with espionage, state terrorism and proliferation. "An agent like this costs a lot of money to train and deploy and also involves risks. If they are found out, their activities may fall back on the client."
Currently, in 2024, it is mainly so-called proxies or low-level agents who are sent out, as their clients are very difficult to trace. Proxies are nothing more than representatives. Foreign services use such agents for their own purposes and can avoid direct confrontation. The term low-level agent is somewhat more pejorative. A henchman hired to do the "dirty work" is no great loss in the eyes of hostile foreign powers if he is exposed.
The terms cannot be clearly distinguished from one another and are often used as synonyms. One way of differentiating between them relates to the background of the agents. Proxies are often already anchored in organized crime structures. In this respect, foreign powers know how to use these existing structures for their goals. Low-level agents, on the other hand, tend to act as general criminals on their own and are used for smaller operations. People who do not belong to a fixed organizational structure can operate in secret for a long time. They are often recruited through intermediaries, via social media or messenger services for spying or sabotage.
"The three men who placed five coffins at the Eiffel Tower in Paris at the beginning of June were definitely proxies or low-level agents," says Şevket Akkuş. France suspects that the Russian secret service was behind the operation. The coffins were decorated with French flags and a banner reading "French soldiers from Ukraine". The suspects - a German, a Ukrainian and a Bulgarian - were arrested. The latter stated that he had received 40 euros for transporting the coffins.
"A whole chain of middlemen is often used to contact such small agents or proxies," says Akkuş. In the case of Russia, this is also necessary because Russian diplomats have been increasingly expelled since 2022.
More cases of espionage
"At the latest since Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, there has been a significant increase in cases of espionage. We can speak of hybrid warfare here. Even small actions can stir up unrest in society and weaken trust in the state. A professional disruptive fire, so to speak," says the senior criminal investigator.
Other states are also using their services against Germany to obtain information and pursue their own interests. One of the main players is Iran. For its state terrorism, the Iranian regime uses proxies from organized crime, among other things. For example, Babak J., who threw an incendiary device at the synagogue in Bochum at the end of 2022, was recruited by Hells Angels member Ramin Y. for the crime. According to the written verdict, he in turn acted from Tehran on behalf of Iranian state agencies.
"Espionage has so far been an issue that has mainly occupied the intelligence services," explains Akkuş. The police are only on board when investigations are launched or when there is a specific threat. For example, if it becomes known that a traitor, defector or dissident could be killed in North Rhine-Westphalia on behalf of a foreign state, police measures are taken. "The global political situation has changed. The approach has become much more offensive and robust. Foreign intelligence services do not shy away from open violence or killing operations. For some states, there no longer seem to be any red lines."
Due to the significant increase in cases and the use of low-level agents or proxies, espionage has now also become an important issue for the police outside of security. The difficulty here is recognizing criminal acts as acts of espionage or sabotage in the first place. These can be unauthorized drone flights, photo or video recordings, trespassing, graffiti or other damage to property. At first glance, such offenses can quickly be dismissed as a foolish prank, as a connection to foreign interests is not immediately apparent. "Of course, minor damage to property or trespassing on a site should not be assumed to be an evil spy per se," says Şevket Akkuş. "But it can help to question who or what could be behind such a situation and for whom certain information could be useful."
Specially trained investigators on duty
This is why one of the tasks of sub-department 23.3 is to sensitize the North Rhine-Westphalia police to the topic of espionage as part of politically motivated crime (PMC). This is also being done with the help of the newly appointed espionage officers. At least one investigator now acts as a decentralized contact person for the area of espionage in all 16 criminal investigation departments of the state police. This ensures that information is exchanged between district police authorities, those responsible for the topic and the State Office of Criminal Investigation (and therefore also the Office for the Protection of the Constitution). These specially trained investigators are used to deal with the high number of suspected espionage cases. Sub-department 23.3 is also responsible for providing specialist input for service briefings and further training. Last November, the first specialist conference on espionage took place at the LKA. A corresponding concept is to be developed in order to better identify suspected espionage cases. The specialist portal on PMK will be enriched with topic-specific espionage articles in the future.
Şevket Akkuş and his team are in contact with critical infrastructure facilities, such as companies in the energy sector or in the field of telecommunications. Creating meaningful lines of communication and networking various stakeholders is also one of the tasks of the sub-department. Coordination with other authorities is always necessary. Relevant threat issues are regularly discussed in the Joint Extremism and Counter-Terrorism Center (GETZ) of the federal and state governments. Sub-department 23.3 also takes part in these meetings. "The number of meetings at the GETZ has increased significantly over the last three years. This shows that there are now many more cases. However, the increase is also due to the fact that our intelligence services are receiving more information," says Akkuş.
However, the number of unreported cases is still immense. The creation of the new sub-department and the newly appointed subject managers are an important step for the NRW police in order to be prepared for the increasing threat of espionage, sabotage and state terrorism.
