CIA Spy Craft- the "dead drop"

 

CIA case officers use the dead drop method of espionage tradecraft to pass items or information back and forth with the foreign agents they recruit. A secret location is used to avoid direct meetings, so they can remain in the shadows. In the Mission Of Vengeance spy thriller, the use of dead drops between CIA spymaster Corey Pearson and a former KGB agent who defects to the U.S. is entwined in the plot. Their dead drop on the island of Dominican Republic was in a remote coconut palm grove by the ocean’s edge. Here is a short passage from the novel:

     A week prior, Corey drove past the Waterfront Restaurant in Sosua, Dominican Republic, and glanced at the bench in the shade of a Red Flamboyant tree out front. Bocharov left a red mark on the back frame, indicating he left a document at the dead drop in the coconut palm grove. Corey retrieved it and inside were a sketch of the grounds, including inner diagrams of the Spetsnaz and St. Petersburg hackers’ accommodations, and the mansion itself. Bocharov’s drawings plus more recent drone and IMINT satellite photos enabled Corey to further enhance the combat zone digital map that he and Shutterbug created at the Sosua safehouse. Bocharov also reported that a dozen more Spetsnaz assassins recently arrived at his estate outside Sosua. Corey informed General Morrison of this development, who immediately contacted President Rhinehart. It was decided that both CBIF special ops squads would attack.

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      Ironically, Chinese intelligence used this technique against us! For three years, until 2015, a 56-year-old Chinese-American tour guide named Xueha "Edward" Peng periodically carried out a strange errand: Every few months, he'd book a room at a certain designated hotel—first in California and later in Georgia—and leave $10,000 or $20,000 in cash in the room, inside a dresser drawer or taped to the bottom of a desk or TV stand. Later, he'd come back to the room and search out an SD card similarly taped to the underside of a piece of furniture, sometimes in a package like a cigarette box. He'd pick it up, leave, and later board a flight to Beijing, where he'd personally deliver the card full of classified secrets to his handlers at China's Ministry of State Security.

     Yes, Peng was using a "dead drop." He passed America’s secrets to a Chinese spy, using a secret location thus not requiring them to meet directly, so operational security could be maintained. Peng's case shows that the venerable dead drop remains a very viable tool of the spy trade.

Lastly, check out this video on how to execute a successful "dead drop". You can do it at the office!