[ad_1]
Dozens of encrypted messages leaving Colombia directly to different areas of the Kremlin, in Russia, began to attract the attention of British and United States agents.
The unusual traffic of information, in mid-2017, coincided with substantive changes in the diplomatic corps of the embassy of that country in Bogotá and the unusual expansion of 23 positions that officials with intelligence experience began to fill.
(Also: For reasons of state, two Russian diplomats were expelled)
Immediately, the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) activated a device that had its first consequences a few weeks ago, with the location and expulsion of two of the members of that mission: Aleksandr Nikolayevich Belousov, accredited in Colombia on November 1, 2017, who was part of the Russian Military Intelligence Service (GRU), and Aleksandr Paristov, a member of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of that country, who joined Colombia on January 17, 2019.
(We invite you to read: The 29 men of Nicolás Maduro who stalk Colombia)
Parts of this plot are consigned in a secret document that EL TIEMPO had access to and that the Presidency ordered to send the Colombian ambassador to Russia, Alfonso Caballero, for months.
“Since 2017, it began with the identification of several Russian agents in the country (…) one of them was revealed by the activities that he had been carrying out. Thanks to foreign intelligence agencies it was possible to confirm that he is an active and high-ranking member. rank of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) “, reads the document obtained exclusively by EL TIEMPO.
Nicolás Maduro sent several of his men to spy on Colombia.
The agent began to collect key information in the political, economic and scientific areas, which he sent in encrypted messages to his country.
(Also: Álex Saab’s trace in Venezuelan espionage to Colombia)
Paying large sums, he quickly assembled a network of informants of Colombian nationality with access to sensitive information from private and state companies in the energy sector.
And Venezuela?
A second agent, from the Central Intelligence Department (GRU), was identified months later and his presence triggered new controls after cyberattack activities were detected.
In 2019, the first agent was relieved of the diplomatic corps and another of higher rank arrived to replace him, who inherited his network of informants, confirming that it was not a personal and sporadic issue, but an official mission.
(In context: The powerful ‘Cuban factor’ in the Nicolás Maduro regime)
“Until that moment, the espionage information about Colombia came exclusively through Venezuela, but it was clear that another floodgate was opened by Russia,” an intelligence agent told this newspaper.
But there is an unpublished data: People close to these Russian officials were taken out of the country when the pandemic began, via routes that passed through Venezuela and Iran. EL TIEMPO has in its possession the list of passengers with passport numbers, but for reasons of national security it omits them.
British and American
In addition, they confirmed that the evidence collected by British and United States agencies was key for the Duque government to proceed diplomatically.
In fact, the information that came out encrypted was not only about Colombia. It was also about activities of other intelligence agencies and allied governments, in the face of issues such as Venezuela and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.
(In context: Nicolás Maduro’s network of tunnels in Caracas)
Data from foreign commissions stationed in the country, coordinates of key points of energy production and political information left the country for Russia.
(See here all the articles of the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO)
But, in addition to being diplomatic, the case has a criminal component. It seeks to prosecute people who sold sensitive information to Russians: “Besides other crimes, treason is configured.”
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
[email protected]
@UinvestigativaET
