Spycraft - Melton [227]
Dead drop concealments normally must have no value to the society where used. Otherwise, the concealment may be collected for its assumed worth. In theory, the more repulsive a dead drop CD appeared, the more attractive its operational use. A crushed can still dripping oil, a piece of electrical cable coming out a wall with exposed wires that appeared “live,” discarded bandages and medical waste, or animal excrement were unlikely to be picked up by a casual passerby.
Animal carcasses, especially decaying ones, are universally offensive and thus effective for dead drop containers.15 OTS specialists periodically produced CDs from pigeons, rats, and an occasional roadkill. The lab animals were humanely killed, then gutted and treated to create an artificial cavity inside the stomach and chest. Some were freeze-dried and vacuum-packed in tin cans. Material intended for the agent was wrapped in aluminum foil and inserted inside the created cavity and the animal stitched back together. Before the carcass was deployed, it might be doused in Tabasco sauce as a deterrent to hungry cats roaming the streets. Pigeon carcasses were typically dropped at sites around parks and the special rats were often just left by the side of the road. To make the dead rats even more repugnant, OTS constructed rubberized “gut parts” to spill out of the carcass as it lay on the road. When deployed, the roadkill CD was intended to be retrieved quickly.
Agents needed a secure means to transport their spy gear. If recruited outside a denied area, the agent would be required to reestablish contact after they returned home and were ready to begin work. The techs found a solution by hiding one-time pads and commo schedules inside inexpensive tourist souvenirs such as statues of saints, reproductions of sculpture, and castings of famous buildings. These items could be collected in cities where the agent traveled, carried by hand, and readily explained as a tourist purchase if questioned. Low-cost items were less likely to be examined when packed in personal luggage. For greater security, these were one-time-use CDs that could not be opened without being broken to access their contents. Because there was no hidden latch or manipulation that might betray the method of opening the CD, the cavity was not likely to be detected even during a close examination.
People, as well as information often needed to be “transported.”16 During the Cold War CIA and OTS worked successfully on more than 140 “illegal movement” operations without ever losing a person.17 OTS constructed life-supporting human concealments for defectors or escapees in the form of specially designed exfiltration crates or modified automobiles. Refrigerator boxes could house an eight-hour life support system for a person weighing up to 250 pounds and measuring up to six foot six inches tall. The less than luxurious container included items needed to support basic life and body functionality such as “piddle packs” for urination, absorbent sponges, food, water, ice packs, gel packs, a warming source, and circulating battery fans. Constraints on the internal oxygen supply usually limited the time a system could be employed.
During one exfiltration of an agent from a Soviet Bloc country, the border crossing took much longer than planned when the vehicle was held up at several checkpoints. The agent was wedged inside a concealment built in the car’s trunk with virtually no room to move. Officers driving the car, although concerned about the agent’s well-being, could do nothing. Finally, after several hours longer than expected, the automobile arrived at a safe location, the concealment