The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested a suspected Chinese Communist spy on Tuesday (April 29) and found surveillance equipment in his car parked near the Commission on Elections headquarters.
According to reports from DZRH Radio in the Philippines, the suspect is a Chinese national surnamed Liu, holding a Macau passport.
NBI agents had been monitoring Liu for several days and observed him frequently loitering near sensitive areas in the greater Manila area. They also discovered an “International Mobile Subscriber Identity Catcher” (IMSI-Catcher) device at the back of Liu’s SUV. The SUV was parked near the Commission on Elections headquarters in the Philippines.
An IMSI-Catcher is considered a spy tool that can be placed in a vehicle, disguised as a legitimate mobile signal base station, to gather all mobile phone numbers within a specific area, intercept and manipulate communications, and track user locations. The Philippines will prosecute Liu under the Spy Punishment Act and Cybercrime Prevention Act.
The Philippines is set to hold mid-term elections in May. Officials from the Commission on Elections stated that no confidential information was stored at the commission headquarters, and voting and counting systems have been tested without any abnormalities.
Since January this year, the NBI has arrested several suspected Chinese Communist spies, some of whom also had IMSI-Catchers in their vehicles, spotted near government agencies and military camps.
On the other hand, the Chinese Ministry of State Security announced on May 3 that they had arrested three Filipino spies in China. These individuals had previously studied in China through scholarship programs in Hainan Province.
(Source: Central News Agency)