THREE Chinese spies have reportedly been arrested in Germany for passing on military secrets to Beijing and stealing clever laser technology.
Federal Prosecutor General Jens Rommel detained the trio of suspected spies after accusing them of reporting top secret military information back to the Chinese secret service.
GettyA trio of suspected spies for China have been arrested in Germany[/caption]
Investigators arrested a 59-year-old man from Bad Homburg and a couple from Düsseldorf this morning on strong suspicions of “secret service agent activity”.
They have also violated the Foreign Trade Act, say German prosecutors.
The main suspect has been dubbed Thomas R and is said to have been in contact with an employee of the Chinese secret service (MSS).
He used his connections in Germany to obtain data on “innovative technologies that could be used militarily”, claim officials.
Officers believe he enlisted the help of Herwig, 72, and Ina F, 58, to obtain the secrets.
The couple run a company in Düsseldorf and investigators are convinced the company could have served “as a medium for establishing contact and collaboration” with German scientists and researchers.
The three arrested are accused of stealing a specially made laser from German labs under MSS orders, say the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
It is believed they managed to sneak the device out of Europe and into the hands of Chinese secret agents.
Some of the information that has been passed on is around modern machine parts for ship engines.
The engines are commonly used in combat ships in war zones.
They will now be bought in front of an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice.
It comes as two more alleged spies suspected of planning to sabotage military aid intended for Ukraine were arrested.
The men, identified only as Dieter S and Alexander J, are said by officials to be dual German–Russian nationals.
They were reportedly discussing possible acts of sabotage in Germany with a person linked to Russian intelligence since October.
Dieter S was also accused of declaring himself willing to carry out bombing and arson attacks on military infrastructure.
GERMANY’S SPY PROBLEM
The grave concerns over intelligence leaks come after Germany fumbled important information into the hands of Russian spies.
In Germany’s biggest spy scandal in decades, the head of the Luftwaffe, Ingo Gerhartz, told officers Britain is delivering Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
But he revealed British troops were “on the ground” — a highly confidential move that Russia said shows Nato is “preparing for war”.
The Kremlin intercepted the 38-minute call, conducted on an off-the-shelf video chat platform, which was then broadcast across Russian state television.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the leak was “very serious” and that a probe was now under way over it.
Downing Street insisted the incident was “a matter for Germany”, which remained “a very close Nato ally”.
But former chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, insisted the leak was “worrying on a number of levels”.
Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert from the University of Buckingham, also told The Sun that “heads should roll” for Germany’s “appalling breach of Nato security”.
Tourists in Russia have even been told to avoid meeting up on dating apps due to “honey-trap” scams by Putin’s spies.
The German foreign ministry has sent out a chilling warning to people on dating apps to “be careful” after recent leaks.
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