Two Latvian men have been arrested following an apparent security breach at a British military base housing sensitive U.S. and NATO intelligence operations, police said Thursday, prompting a counterterrorism investigation.
The men, aged 36 and 32 and both living in the UK, were detained at around 2 a.m. after Ministry of Defense Police and Cambridgeshire officers discovered a small hole in the perimeter fence at RAF Molesworth, about 70 miles north of London.
Perimeter fence at RAF Molesworth in the UK
(Photo: Andrew Tatlow / Wikimedia)
They were arrested on suspicion of trespassing on a prohibited site and criminal damage, as well as entering a prohibited place for a purpose considered prejudicial to the United Kingdom.
Because of the nature of the suspected offenses and the sensitivity of the facility, the investigation has since been handed over to counterterrorism police.
RAF Molesworth is operated by the U.S. Air Force and serves as an important intelligence hub for American and NATO operations. Personnel based there include members of U.S. Africa Command as well as the NATO Intelligence Fusion Center, which provides intelligence to NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Authorities have not disclosed whether either man entered the base itself, what they were allegedly attempting to do or whether any sensitive facilities or information were compromised.