On September 3, Turkish security officials made a big announcement: they had arrested Liridon Rexhepi, a man from Kosovo who was allegedly running the financial side of the Israeli spy agency Mossad in Turkey.
According to Turkish media, Rexhepi was involved in a secret operation. He was sending money to Mossad agents in Turkey, who used drones to film important targets, conducted psychological operations against Palestinian politicians, and collected intelligence about the situation in Syria.
Turkish intelligence (MIT) started to suspect something was wrong when they noticed unusual activity in Rexhepi’s financial accounts. They found a lot of money transfers to Mossad agents in Turkey through Western Union. Rexhepi also admitted that he was using cryptocurrencies to move money from Kosovo to Syria.
MIT had been keeping an eye on Rexhepi since he arrived in Turkey on August 25. They worked with Istanbul police to arrest him on August 30. He was officially charged on September 3.
This arrest is part of a larger crackdown. Since the start of the year, Turkish authorities have been busy detaining people suspected of working for Mossad. In January, they arrested seven people; in March, they charged six more; and in April, they caught two others.
A Turkish prosecutor revealed in July that they plan to seek up to 20 years in prison for 57 people accused of spying for Mossad. According to the indictment, Mossad was using mobile apps and live couriers to conduct remote operations, move money, and target people in the field.
This arrest is just one piece of a bigger puzzle as Turkey continues its battle against espionage and international spy networks.
