Turkey has released the photos of the 15 alleged Mossad (Israeli) spies caught by its intelligence agency, in an operation earlier this month. The operation had reportedly successfully cracked a Mossad spy ring, exposed five cells and arrested 15 men suspected of conducting covert activities on foreign students and Palestinians.
The National Intelligence Organization or the Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MIT) of Turkey reportedly shared the information with counter-terrorism forces after tracking the network for over a year. A 200-strong team raided the cells in a secret operation across four provinces on October 7, Sabah daily newspaper reported.
Moreover, the Turkish newspaper reported that the arrested men had been instructed to gather information on foreign students, particularly Palestinians who could potentially have a career in the defense industry, enrolled in Turkish universities. The spies were also allegedly tasked with looking into a number of other unspecified associations and organizations that hosted Palestinians in Turkey.
Media reports claimed that the network used this information to put together profiles on individuals, which was then relayed to Mossad officials through an end-to-end encryption program that generates fake phone numbers. They also reportedly communicated through WhatsApp.
Furthermore, in return for the reports, the 15 Mossad agents reportedly received payment transfers through Western Union and Moneygram, and in some cases were compensated in Bitcoin. The agents reportedly also used a courier system to transfer funds, uring jewelry stores and markets as hubs, according to the Daily Sabah.
More information is expected to come as MIT’s expert teams continue their interrogations of the spies. The spies are of Arab descent RT.com reported.