Israeli Mossad agents kidnapped Mordechai Vanunu in Rome in September 1986. Vanunu’s Moroccan Jewish family immigrated to Israel when he was a child. After serving in the Army, he worked at the Negev Nuclear Research Center from 1976 until 1985, suspected by many around the world to house a secret Israeli nuclear weapons program. While simultaneously pursing a college degree, he became active in student politics, including pro-Palestinian causes. He was warned by his superiors to cease his outside activities but did not. In 1985, Vanunu took photos of the complex, including clear evidence of nuclear weapons development. Undiscovered, he then moved to Australia, where he converted to Christianity. The following year, he offered the photos and story to a reporter from London’s Sunday Times, among others. His information was deemed credible, and he was flown to London for more interviews, where he was sequestered for many days in a hotel, while the story was corroborated and readied for publication. Unbeknownst to anyone, a friend of Vanunu’s had also sold the story to the Sunday Mirror, owned by Robert Maxwell, a former Mossad officer and father of Ghislaine Maxwell. In late September, Vanunu suddenly disappeared from London. He had struck up a relationship with an Israeli-American female Mossad agent posing as a tourist named Cindy. She convinced him to take a short trip to Rome with her, where he was captured, drugged, and smuggled back to Israel via ship. While being transported in a van to court in late 1986, Vanunu wrote a message to camera crews on his hand, which read, “Vanunu M was hijacked in Rome ITL. 30.9.86. 21.000. Came to Rome by fly BA504.” The Sunday Times published the story on Israel’s nuclear arsenal just days after his disappearance, and Vanunu was convicted of treason, serving 18 years before his release in 2004. Afterwards he was prohibited from leaving Israel and had continued legal troubles. The American Mossad agent ‘Cindy’ returned to the US, where she reportedly began a new career as a real estate agent in Orlando, FL. #israel #kidnapped #rome #london #sundaytimes

Cuban counterintelligence photographed a CIA case officer planting a dead drop outside of Havana in the early 1980s. Fidel Castro's Intelligence Directorate grew quickly in size and capability following the Cuban revolution. By the 1980s they were a force to be reckoned with, and the CIA experienced great difficulty in conducting operations on the island. Photographed here is Richard Brennan, ostensibly a secretary in the political-economic department of the US Interests Section, placing a package in the tall grass next to a road marker. According to the Cubans, Brennan made more than a dozen dead drops of this type between 1982 and 1984. This package contained 25,000 Cuban pesos, one-time pads for encrypted communication, an RS-804 covert communications device, and other highly incriminating items. Brennan was accompanied by his wife Virginia on these runs. At first glance it may seem incredible that a CIA case officer would involve their spouse in high-risk espionage activities, but this was a common practice for decades in many overseas locations. Due to the cessation of formal relations between the United States and Cuba, the US embassy in Havana was closed for many years. US government personnel (including the CIA) worked out of a US Interests Section in the Swiss embassy instead. Meanwhile, Cuban government employees in the United States worked out of a Cuban Interests Section in the Swiss embassy in Washington DC as well. In June 1987, Cuban agent Florentino Aspillaga defected to the United States and claimed that at least 27 CIA-run agents inside Cuba had been doubled back on them. That might explain how the Intelligence Directorate was in position to photograph the Brennans making this dead drop. #declassified #spy #espionage #covert #clandestine