Seven suspects, including a private investigator, were accused of selling information to the Mossad and detained by Turkish authorities.
The arrest is the latest in a string of operations that Turkey claims have led to the capture of Israeli operatives, including a previous arrest of a different group of seven last month, and a larger operation before that in which thirty-four suspects were detained.
One of the suspects is alleged to be a private investigator and former chief of police in Istanbul, as well as a frequent security consultant for Turkish television. He was accused both of leaking information to Israel himself and recruiting other public officials to do so.
According to Daily Sabah, the investigator was originally contacted by a Mossad operative code-named Victoria and assigned simple tasks. He would later undergo training by Mossad operatives in Belgrade during 2019, including the use of encrypted messaging applications to contact the Mossad. He was paid in cryptocurrency to prevent discovery through wire transfer records.
Among his alleged actions for the Mossad is stalking and threatening targets, as well as placing trackers on vehicles to provide the Mossad with real-time information on the target's whereabouts.