November 26, 2006 - Canada arrests 'illegal' spy from Russian intelligence

I spotted the article I have attached below in today's edition of the Washington Times. The story does not deal with illegal immigration nor does it even detail an event that occurred in the United States, however as I will explain, the arrest of a Russian spy in Canada can provide a lesson that our nation's leaders truly need to learn.

It has been stated that an effective spy is someone who would not attract the attention of a waitress at a "greasy spoon" diner. I have often used that statement in attempting to explain the embedding process when I have appeared before Congress as well as at other venues. On those occasions I have expanded upon that statement and have said that the same could said of terrorists as well as spies and, in fact, a spy or terrorist might well be that waitress or waiter working at the "greasy spoon" diner. The point is that spies and terrorists share a common need to embed themselves within the country that they are operating against. I prefer to refer to that embedding process as 'hiding in plain sight.' Such nefarious individuals seek to acquire identity documents that enable them to change their identities and travel freely across the nation they have targeted as well as being able to freely move across that nation's borders. In order to accomplish this critical goal they utilize counterfeit or altered passports. If they are able to, they seek to acquire legitimate passports issued by the country in which they have embedded themselves by "gaming" the system of the targeted country. They often steal the identity of a citizen of the country they have infiltrated so that they can obtain a passport in the name of that victim of the identity theft. Terrorists and spies who have operated in the United States have also managed to gain resident alien status in our country, naturalize, and then acquire a legitimate passport as a citizen of our country.

The article I have attached is of interest because it made the point that the spy who was captured in Canada was, in the parlance of the intelligence community, "illegal." That means that he did not enter Canada on a diplomatic passport and then engage in espionage. Such "diplomats" are often simply expelled when they are compromised and arrested, under the aegis of "diplomatic immunity." A spy who is defined as being "illegal" enters the country against which he is spying either surreptitiously or with an appropriate visa, claiming to be a student, journalist or businessman and then engages in his nefarious activities. Such a spy is not able to be shielded

from arrest and prosecution by invoking "diplomatic immunity." The spy who was arrested, Paul William Hampel, was found to have been in possession of a Canadian birth certificate as well as three Canadian passports. Those passports represented the "keys to the kingdom" for Canada, and Mr. Hampel (or whatever his true name may be) managed to hide in plain sight in Canada for more than a decade, and engage in espionage in Canada, and possibly in other countries by posing as a citizen of Canada, during that lengthy period of time.

The lesson that the United States should take away from this is that the bureaucracy by which passports are issued and immigration benefits are conferred upon aliens in the United States represent a major threat to national security. The fact that the bureaucrats who work at USCIS in the United States are fixated on chasing the elusive goal of clearing the backlog, creates many

vulnerabilities for our nation. Our government needs to create a secure homeland, but the DHS is not living up to its name- the Department of Homeland Security. There are all too many examples of how the systems under the purview of DHS can be beaten by criminals, terrorists and spies. Yet many of our politicians view the systems at DHS as an inconvenience rather than as a barrier to those who would do us harm. Our nation's borders and the immigration laws, when effectively enforced and administered can offer a major layer of defense against those who would seek to come here to do our nation grave damage.

Nearly every day, without expending much effort, I am able to find an article that illustrates these vulnerabilities at DHS. Clearly we are at risk and these risks need to be addressed (hopefully before the next disaster befalls our nation and our citizens)!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

-michael cutler-

Reference: Canada arrests 'illegal' spy from Russian intelligence by Bill Gertz, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, November 26, 2006

Canada's security service recently arrested a deep-cover Russian intelligence officer posing as a Canadian citizen in what officials say is a rare capture of an "illegal" spy.

Court papers identified the man as Paul William Hampel and said he was a member of Russia's foreign intelligence service, or SVR, and an "illegal" spy operating without the protection of diplomatic cover.

A Canadian federal court report made public earlier this week stated that the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services thinks Mr. Hampel "is a danger to the security of Canada" and was thus "inadmissible" to the country.

Mr. Hampel was arrested at Montreal's Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport on Nov. 14 and found to be carrying three passports that authorities said were obtained fraudulently using a Canadian birth certificate. (Click arrow at the top of the page to continue.)

He also was found carrying about $6,876 worth of five different currencies, along with several bank and credit cards, index cards containing historical data on Canada, encrypted prepaid cell phone cards and a shortwave radio.

Mr. Hampel is being held on a little-used national security law and faces deportation or prosecution for fraud in a secret trial
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A U.S. official said the capture was a coup for the Canadians, since deep-cover spies are very hard to find. "Identifying and subsequently catching an Illegal is the creme de la creme of the counterintelligence business," the official said.

The Canadian report noted that in 1996 two Russians were identified as an SVR illegal team and deported.

The FBI has not uncovered any SVR illegals in the United States, despite claims that spying by Russian intelligence in recent years is at Cold War levels
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The CIA identified a KGB illegal in 1989 posing as a Finnish national named Reino Gikman, who was photographed meeting State Department official Felix Bloch, a suspected Russian mole in the department who was never prosecuted.

"Hampel's infiltration into Canada and development of a Canadian legend based on an identity created by the SVR has permitted Hampel to abuse the integrity of the Canadian system, including citizenship and all its inherent privileges," the report said. "As a documented Canadian citizen, Hampel has been operating covertly on behalf of the SVR and, as such, poses a danger to Canada's national security and Canada's interests internationally."

The report said the use of Canadian documents "provided him with the ability to covertly further the interests of the SVR for over a decade both within Canada and abroad."

Georgi Mamedov, Russia's ambassador to Canada, told a Canadian television station that he had no information about the case, and he sought to highlight Russia's cooperation with Canada in the war on terrorism.

In Moscow, SVR spokesman Sergey Ivanov told the Interfax News Agency: "Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, like any other foreign intelligence service, does not comment on whether an individual is or is not involved in its activities."