Russia's double agent exposed in Spain

On July 23, 2007 Spain's spy agency CNI chief said at a special news conference that a suspected double agent had been arrested who revealed the names of Spanish spies and other state secrets to a foreign nation. Spain's SER Radio reported the recipient nation was Russia.

The suspect, Robert Flores Garcia, was arrested a day before at his home on Tenerife Island in Spain's Canary Islands. He passed secrets in exchange for hefty payments from December 2001 to February 2004, said the spy chief, Alberto Saiz, head of the National Intelligence Agency (known by its Spanish initials CNI).

Flores, a Spanish Civil Guard assigned to spy agency headquarters for internal matters, had been a suspect under surveillance by Spanish intelligence since July 2005, said Saiz.

When Florez was arrested, it was believed that he had already delivered to the SVR five big boxes filled with DVDs, CDs, VHS and cassette tapes, computer hard drives, that he had collected over the 13 years of his career in the Spanish secret service, between March 1991 and March 2004.

Investigators have discovered that Flórez was managed by the Russian liaison Petr Melnikov, who was worked as a consultant in the Russian Embassy in Madrid and apparently was one of the top three most important SVR officers at the embassy.

Flores resigned from his position at the spy agency in January 2004. Saiz insisted that Spain's national security was never threatened, nor, he said, was there a threat to security at NATO and the European Union. Spain is a member country of both organizations.

The alleged revelations of the suspected double agent forced Spain to substitute a number of its spies because Flores allegedly revealed the names of dozens of Spanish spies, possibly including the seven Spanish spies killed in an ambush south of Baghdad in November 2003. An eighth Spanish intelligence agent traveling with them survived. The eight spies were in Iraq to provide intelligence for Spanish troops who were stationed at the time in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. The spies were traveling in two vehicles when insurgents launched an ambush with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

Flores is suspected of transferring classified material and could face 12 years in prison if convicted, Saiz said.

On February 12, 2010 Flores was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Sources:

• El Mundo "El CNI detiene a un 'agente doble' que pasó información sensible a otro país"
• CNN "Double agent 'sold names to Russia'"