A BYTE OUT OF HISTORY
Orange Juice Cartons and Rubber Hoses: A Spy
Story
05/19/06
 |
| A
letter sent by the Soviets to Lindberg
in October 1977. |
"Hello,
Ed," the note began. "Please, read
this letter very attentively. To-day, as I
have already noticed we have a lot of work
to do: 1) Receive your material. 2) Make our
first payment to you."
"Ed"
was actually Art Lindberg—a lieutenant
commander in the Navy and a double agent recruited
by the Naval Investigative Service and the
FBI in the spring of 1977. At the time, we
suspected the Soviets were using their U.N.
office as a front for espionage—specifically,
to spy on U.S. Navy operations in New York
and New Jersey. Lindberg's modest income,
impending retirement, and information access
made him a perfect candidate to fool the Soviets
into believing he would sell secrets for cash.
It
worked. The letter
was one of many communications sent by the
Soviets to Lindberg, often in stilted English,
after they took the bait in August 1977 until
the following spring when we arrested two
Soviet officials. At the outset, FBI Headquarters
dubbed the spy case "Operation Lemon-Aid."
The name had no meaning, but as the case developed,
it seemed to fit more and more.
Why?
Because as we tracked the steady stream of
phone calls and letters between Lindberg and
the Soviets, we learned quite a bit about
Soviet spy craft in the '70s. The Soviets
repeatedly passed messages and money to Lindberg
in the most ordinary, everyday items: magnetic
key holders placed in phone booths, cigarette
packs, soda cans, orange juice cartons, even
a rubber hose from an appliance. Most of the
pre-arranged "dead drop" sites where
the secrets were supposed to be passed (it
was actually declassified information) were
along the busy New Jersey Turnpike.
We
moved in on May 20, 1978—28 years ago
this weekend—when we felt we had enough
information to make the arrests. We decided
to set a trap—we gave Lindberg five
canisters with actual classified materials
so the Soviets would be caught red-handed.
Hiding inside the trunk of Lindberg's car
were two FBI agents, with many other agents
waiting at the drop site on a back road. Lindberg
approached the site, stopped the car, and
picked up a can labeled "Ann Page Bartlett
Pears," as instructed by the Soviets.
He grabbed the can, dropped off the canisters,
and drove off. Soon after, we arrested two
covert KGB officers—Valdik Enger and
Rudolf Chernyayev. A third Soviet at the scene,
Vladimir Zinyakin, had diplomatic immunity
and was later expelled from the country.
In
the end, it was one of our most important
counter-espionage cases of the decade. Enger
and Chernyayev were the first Soviet officials
to ever stand trial for espionage in the U.S.
Both were convicted and ultimately exchanged
for five Soviet dissidents.
The
cat-and-mouse game between FBI and KGB agents
would continue, but "Operation Lemon-Aid"
gave us insights that helped our operations
for years to come.
Resources:
More
History Bytes | FBI
History webpage
