Swedish authorities said two people had been arrested in Stockholm on suspicion of espionage. This was reported by the Swedish edition of Aftonbladet, citing the head of the National Police Operations Directorate, Stefan Hector. According to him, the detainees are suspected of illegal intelligence activities. Two Black hawk helicopters were involved in the operation to arrest them.
“In this case, it was about taking criminals and property under control in a short time in order to prevent the destruction of evidence. This morning's operation had to be carried out quickly. It was not easy, and therefore specialists from the National Operations Directorate and police aviation were involved, with the support of the helicopter resources of the Armed Forces,” said Stefan Hector. He did not provide details of the case.
According to Aftonbladet, the detainees are a man and a woman in their 60s from Russia. They immigrated to Sweden at the same time about 20 years ago. Police suspect that the man "spyed for a foreign power for about ten years", the woman is involved in the case as an accomplice. The couple is also known to run a business in Sweden importing and exporting, among other things, electronic components and industrial technology with a turnover of more than 30 million SEK per year (€2.7 million).
In 2016, the Swedish Revenue Service was given permission to search the couple's home to collect evidence as part of an investigation into tax crimes, writes Aftonbladet. In an investigation by the Swedish tax authorities, the companies were found to have a complex ownership structure that "leads to tax havens abroad."
In addition, Euronews writes that shortly before this detention, the Swedish authorities accused two brothers of Iranian origin of alleged spying for the Russian military intelligence (GRU) for about 10 years. One of the suspects worked for Swedish domestic intelligence. Both deny any wrongdoing. Swedish prosecutors say there is no connection between the two cases.
