British spies spent up to 20 years hunting a senior officer at the heart of MI6 over fears he was a Russian double agent in an extraordinary global operation.
Operation Wedlock, run by MI5, saw a team of up to 35 surveillance, planning and desk officers travelling globally in a bid to catch the alleged mole, the Guardian has reported.
The ‘highly unusual’ investigation, believed to have began in the mid-to-late 1990s before concluding in 2015, came following a tip-off from the CIA about an alleged spy.
Fears had been raised that a British intelligence official could be working in London and relaying confidential information to Russia.
In one particularly dangerous instance, an entire surveillance team reportedly travelled to the Middle East for more than a week, with officers sheltering in a CIA safe house.
It is understood that such trip could have violated international law as the undercover officers had travelled to the country without the permission or knowledge of its own government.
According to The Guardian, agents were warned that if detained, they were ‘on their own’ and would not receive assistance.
But despite their best efforts, the specialist intelligence agency never obtained any ‘conclusive proof’ of a mole, meaning that there is a possibility the double agent could still be spying for Russia today.
Operation Wedlock run by British spies at MI5 saw agents spending 20 years hunting a senior officer at the heart of MI6 over fears he was a Russian double agent, the Guardian has reported (Pictured: a file image of the MI6 headquarters in London)
Beginning in the mid-to-late 1990s before concluding in 2015, the investigation came following a tipoff from the CIA about an alleged spy. However, no ‘conclusive proof’ of a mole was found, meaning that there is a possibility the double agent could still be spying for Russia today (Pictured: MI5’s headquarters at Thames House on Milbank, London)
One source told the publication: ‘[We were told] the target was a Russian spy … The US believed he was leaking information to the Russians. He was suspect 1A. The job was taken more seriously than any other [MI5] was involved in. Wedlock eclipsed them all.’
Meanwhile, another source spoke of fears amid the the organisation that they had ‘another Philby on our hands’, a reference to notorious MI6 double agent Kim Philby. The former Cambridge student was recruited by the Soviet Union in 1963 and eventually forced to flee to Moscow.
They added that the surveillance team, based in Wandsworth, south London and working under the name of a fake security business, believed that the man was being assisted by two other individuals, also based in London.
Due to the sensitivity of the probe, the officer in charge was also allegedly briefed about the task during a church.
Describing the operation as ‘highly unusual’, the source added it was ‘the longest in recent memory and probably the most expensive’.
MI5’s technical operations team, known as A1 at the time, are said to have broken into the alleged spy’s home and planted listening and video devices.
Meanwhile, an MI5 car, fitted with a camera inside of a tissue box, was also reportedly set up outside of the target’s property.
Vladimir Putin was running Russia’s secret intelligence service, the FSB, at one point during the lengthy investigation.
One source spoke of fears amid the the organisation that they had ‘another Philby on our hands’, a reference to notorious MI6 double agent Kim Philby (pictured). The former Cambridge student was recruited by the Soviet Union in 1963 and eventually forced to flee to Moscow
Vladimir Putin (pictured) was running Russia’s secret intelligence service, the FSB, at one point during the lengthy investigation
In May, ‘The Spy in the Archive’, a new biography of Vasily Mitrokhin by Gordon Corera, was released. The former KGB agent, who defected to Britain in 1992, provided MI6 with a significant archive of KGB documents, alongside revealing Soviet espionage activities and operations
However the close source warned that the success of the operation was insignificant due to a lack of evidence, with there still a strong possibility that the double agent could be at large.
They added: ‘MI5 never got the conclusive proof it was looking for. They said that if it was not him, then potentially MI6 “still has a mole to find”‘.
A Whitehall source declined to comment.
In January 1963, infamous double agent Philby confessed to MI6 officer Nicholas Elliott that he had been working for the Russians since the 1930s.
However, he lied about breaking off contact in 1946 and claimed fellow Cambridge spy Anthony Blunt would never work for the Russians.
Philby, who died in 1988, told Mr Elliott at the time: ‘Here’s the scoop, as it were. I have had this particular moment in mind for 28 years almost, that conclusive proof would come out.’
He then said he had a choice ‘between suicide and prosecution’, adding: ‘This is not in any sense blackmail, but a statement of the alternatives before me.’
He admitted betraying Konstantin Volkov, a KGB officer who tried to defect to the West, bringing with him details of traitors operating in British intelligence and the Foreign Office. This would have led to Philby’s exposure.
From top left: Antony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby , members of the notorious Cambridge spy ring
British diplomat and Soviet double agent Guy Burgess defected to Russia on May 25, 1951, leaving behind two briefcases at a private member’s club in Pall Mall
Instead, as a result of Philby’s intervention, he was abducted by the Russians in Istanbul and executed.
First falling under suspicion after fellow Cambridge spies, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, fled to Russia in 1951, he initially managed to dodge MI5 interrogators who said he was an ‘enigma’.
He described his life in MI6 as a time of ‘controlled schizophrenia’, adding: ‘I really did feel a tremendous loyalty to MI6, I was treated very, very well in it and I made some really marvellous friends there. But the over-ruling inspiration was the other side.’
In May, ‘The Spy in the Archive’, a new biography of Vasily Mitrokhin by Gordon Corera, was released. The former KGB agent, who defected to Britain in 1992, provided MI6 with a significant archive of KGB documents, alongside revealing Soviet espionage activities and operations.
Meanwhile in April, the British public were granted access for the first time to see the suitcases and passport of one of the members of the notorious Cambridge Spy ring at the National Archives.
British diplomat and Soviet double agent Guy Burgess defected to Russia on May 25, 1951, leaving behind two briefcases at a private member’s club in Pall Mall.
Burgess left strict instructions with staff at the Reform Club that the leather cases, one locked and another stuffed with letters, papers and photographs, should be left for Anthony Blunt, a fellow Soviet spy who was able to dispose of any incriminating papers before handing over the briefcases to MI5 when the defection emerged.
Now, in an exhibition that explores MI5’s 115-year history running until September 28, amateur sleuths can see a key piece of spy history as Burgess’ briefcase is displayed.
