Another round of arrests has been carried out in London, connected to Russia’s intelligence service.
Three men aged 44, 45, and 48 have been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged offenses under the National Security Act.
Detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing carried out busts at addresses across west and central London earlier this morning and the trio is now in custody.
It comes as the Metropolitan Police is working to clamp down on the increasing number of ‘proxies’ who are being recruited by foreign intelligence services.
They were detained under section 3 of the National Security Act, which makes it an offense to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.
Commander Dominic Murphy said: ‘We are seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as “proxies” being recruited by foreign intelligence services and these arrests are directly related to our ongoing to efforts to disrupt this type of activity.
‘Anyone who might be contacted by and tempted into carrying out criminal activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK should think again.
‘This kind of activity will be investigated and anyone found to be involved can expect to be prosecuted and there are potentially very serious consequences for those who are convicted.’
None of the men have been named and the Metropolitan Police has not shared more information about their alleged offenses.
Further searches are being carried out at another address in west London.
What is section 3 of the National Security Act?
Section 3 makes it an offense to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.
A person commits this crime if they engage in conduct that they know, or ought to know, is likely to assist a foreign intelligence service with its UK-related activities.
Penalties for this offense include a prison sentence of up to 14 years, a fine, or both.
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