Three men have been arrested in London on suspicion of assisting the Russian intelligence service, the Metropolitan Police has said.
The men, aged 44, 45, and 48, were all arrested by detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing at addresses in west and central London on Thursday and are in police custody, the force added.
They were detained under Section three of the National Security Act.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “We’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services and these arrests are directly related to our ongoing efforts to disrupt this type of activity.”
He added: “Anyone who might be contacted by and tempted into carrying out criminal activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK should think again.
“This kind of activity will be investigated and anyone found to be involved can expect to be prosecuted and there are potentially very serious consequences for those who are convicted.”
Section 3 of the UK’s National Security Act 2023 makes it an offence to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.
Anyone convicted of this can face a sentence of up to 14 years, a fine, or both.
They were detained under Section three of the National Security Act
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