Norwegian Police Arrest Suspected ‘Illegal Agent’ – NORWAY NEWS – Latest news, breaking news, comments – NORWAY NEWS

Norwegian police arrested a suspected illegal agent in the arctic city of Tromsø on Monday, the PST Security Service said Tuesday.

The man, who worked as a researcher at the University of Tromso, pretended to be a Brazilian citizen, but police believe he was not Brazilian.

The news was first reported by Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

The man represents a “threat to basic national interests” and should be expelled from Norway, PST deputy head Hedwig Moh told Reuters, describing him as an “illegal agent”.

Illegal agents are intelligence operatives who have no official ties to the government and often use the identities of real dead people to pretend a covert persona.

“Illegal agents are typically recruiters who later recruit agents and prepare the ground for other spies to do traditional espionage,” Moe said.

An attorney for the defendant did not respond to a request for comment.

The suspect was involved in a research group that worked with Norwegian government agencies on a “hybrid threat” related to “Arctic Norway,” Mo said.

“He first contacted me last fall…we evaluated him like any other researcher. It was,” said Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Professor of Security Studies at the University of Tromso.

“He was a really nice guy and was very good at his job,” she said. “There was no reason to suspect that he was anyone other than what he said.”

The man was arrested on Monday, Moe said, but declined to say whether specific events prompted the decision. she said.

The arrests were made possible by the cooperation of “several” international security agencies, but did not specify which countries.