CIA safehouses protect spies from assassins

 

An abandoned CIA safe house in Virginia

The CIA maintains safehouses inside the U.S., like this abandoned one in Virginia, to house Russian defectors and to keep them safe from GRU assassins while they are debriefed. Some safehouses are rented, some are owned by the Agency, but they all blend well into the neighborhood.

     Remember, during the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the second explosion near the Kabul Airport that followed the dreadful one at the airport itself? It turns out it was a highly secured safehouse operated by the CIA and was a hub for clandestine evacuations. Parts of the complex were deliberately destroyed so the Taliban couldn’t retrieve secret files and technical equipment. The Agency called the demolished part of the compound “Eagle Base”, and it was used to train Afghan counterterrorism units.

     In essence, Eagle Base was a CIA safehouse, a defensive place that hides people and keeps them safe from capture or surveillance. Although the Kabul safehouse was an old, deserted brick factory, many CIA safehouses are rented apartments, condominiums, or homes in residential neighborhoods. Eagle Base was often used by CIA undercover operatives to conduct clandestine observations or to meet other operatives surreptitiously.

     The CIA maintains safehouses all over the world, just like in the movie “Safe House”; I enjoyed the movie Safe House, but the gadgets and equipment installed in the place were a bit much. In reality, the CIA actually maintains some inside the U.S. One was run in Virginia to house Russian defectors, to keep them safe from GRU assassins.

     In my Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster series, the CIA operates eight safehouses in Key West. One of them accommodates satellite image interpreters, who masquerade as drywallers and drive a van with a "KW Drywall" logo! Here’s a snippet from MISSION OF VENGEANCE:

     Snippet: The IMINT, image intelligence, satellite hovered 310 miles above Yury Bocharov’s estate, snapping high-resolution, color photos of every square foot of the mansion, outer buildings, and grounds. The images were relayed to General Morrison’s computer at CBIF headquarters in Key West. The CIA ran eight safehouses in Key West and one of them housed satellite image interpreters who masqueraded as drywallers. A sign out front of their unassuming house read “Key West Drywallers.”

Inside the fake front company, two men and a woman watched computer screens as the satellite continued mapping the estate. Two older men sat on a patio in the back of the mansion. They directed the satellite to zero in on their faces and snap photos of each. With one-foot optical resolution imaging capabilities, each face filled an entire computer screen. The facial photos were enhanced, then relayed to Morrison’s computer. General Morrison sent them immediately to Corey’s computer inside the Sosua safehouse.

End of Snippet  

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and enjoys writing about the U.S. Intelligence Community. He authors the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster series. Check out his latest spy thriller: MISSION OF VENGEANCE.