Suspected Chinese spy arrested

(UPDATE) AUTHORITIES arrested a Chinese with links to the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and his two Filipino accomplices suspected to be behind an espionage operation involving equipment used to map critical infrastructure across the country. In a press briefing on Monday, Jeremy Lontoc, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Division chief, said the intelligence operation began when authorities tracked the movements of the group through a covert GPS device installed on their vehicle. The group was discovered loitering near sensitive sites such as military camps, power plants, airports, seaports, local government offices, and even shopping malls and transmitting real-time data to an overseas location. "We later found data-gathering devices capable of providing exact coordinates and topographic details, which can be critical for military targeting or drone operations," Lontoc said. The equipment in question includes a high-tech sensor capable of creating 3D images of targets and a Global Navigation Satellite System Real-Time Kinematics (GNSS RTK) setup, used for mapping and navigation, particularly in military context. This equipment is capable of collecting precise coordinates, which could be used for targeting purposes, including drone control and autonomous vehicle operations. The equipment's use also extended to artillery and guided missile systems, raising concerns about the potential military application of the gathered data. Additionally, the equipment allows for the remote monitoring and transmission of sensitive data to an external location presumed to be in China. "When we caught him, we asked him if he was a licensed surveyor, or if he represented a research institution, or if he was from a private company, or if he was a military or law enforcer, but he failed to show any permit or any license or authority," Lontoc said. The suspect was identified as a specialist in control engineering and automation, with links to the PLA and a research facility in China. He had been in the Philippines for at least five years and directed local cohorts to collect data from various critical sites. The Chinese, along with two Filipino drivers, was caught after traveling across Luzon, with plans to expand their surveillance operations to the Visayas and Mindanao. The Filipino cohorts, who were operating under the directives of the Chinese, expressed surprise upon their capture but admitted to being tasked with monitoring strategic locations across the country. The subjects' surveillance covered a wide range of military and civilian infrastructure. The specific areas visited included military camps like Fort Bonifacio, Camp Aguinaldo, and Camp Crame, as well as power grids, energy sites, airports, seaports, and even local government offices. A map documenting their routes has been recovered, confirming their repeated visits to critical sites. Authorities are especially concerned about the use of this data for military targeting purposes, as the precise coordinates and topographical data could aid hostile forces in launching attacks. The detailed knowledge of entry and exit points, as well as the layout of key buildings, could have devastating consequences if the information were to fall into the wrong hands. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the incident is not the first of its kind. In a similar operation last year, another Chinese was arrested for driving a vehicle equipped with comparable surveillance technology.