A senior executive of the Security Information Service (SIS), Frederico Carvalhão Gil, has been arrested in Rome for selling secrets to the Russians. This marks the end of Operation Top Secret and the final chapter in a cat and mouse game that has been going on for decades.
Gil was caught red handed alongside a spy from the Russian secret service who also was arrested and hauled off by the Italian police for questioning.
Gil has been the subject of internal surveillance for decades but Portugal’s police have been investigating Gil for only the past two years despite his latter promotion to a trusted position heading up the National Counter-Terrorism Unit .
In a game of Spy vs Spy, Gil was adept at throwing off men sent to tail him and managed to travel abroad and then disappear to sell secrets to his Russian contacts.
After a disturbing divorce, Gil seemed to change from trusted spymaster to rogue agent with frequent visits to eastern Europe and Russia to visit a string of girlfriends.
In addition to his rather unorthodox work patterns and despite his social media entries that should have flagged up warnings, it took until now to catch him at it.
Contacts between Gil and his main Russian contact had been going on for at least two years but because he stuck to old fashioned methods, travelled abroad to trade NATO secrets for money and did not use email to send documents, Gil managed a relatively long career as a spy and a traitor.
This all ended last week when Gil went to Rome and was followed by Portuguese investigators in collaboration with the Italian State Police.
A meeting between Gil and his Russian agent took place last Saturday at which point the Italian police, accompanied by Portuguese officers, pounced and arrested both men.
Documentation and money was seized and Gil’s home in Lisbon was searched where further sensitive documents were found.
The spy will be sent back to Portugal to face trial for espionage, corruption and the violation of State secrets.