Two individuals believed to be working on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party’s intelligence agency have been arrested by U.S. authorities for allegedly spying on U.S. Navy service members and recruiting military personnel to assist their efforts.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Yuance Chen, residing in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren Lai, who entered the country on a tourist visa and was apprehended in Houston, Texas, were taken into custody last Friday.
Both men face serious charges for acting as agents of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS)—the country’s primary foreign intelligence service—conducting covert operations across the United States.
According to the DOJ, the pair engaged in a range of clandestine activities, including gathering sensitive information on Navy bases and personnel, facilitating cash payments through “dead drop” techniques and attempting to recruit U.S. Navy members to cooperate with the MSS.
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the importance of these arrests in protecting national security.
Hellbound and Down 