Spycraft - Melton [237]
Advances in the 1980s made it possible for OTS to design a fiber-optical microphone that operated using only light waves transmitted to it along a cable thinner than a human hair. The fiber-optical microphone defied detection by a metal detector or nonlinear junction detector and its tiny wire was easily hidden.
Directional mics were designed for operations to pick up a selected conversation from individuals standing together and talking at a social event while excluding other room noise to either side. The rifle mic, a type of directional microphone, was used in outdoor seating or smoking areas to collect conversations from a distance. The increase in smoke-free buildings turned these gathering spots into ideal target areas to collect gossip and personal information. The directional rifle mic, composed of an array of tubes of varying precalculated lengths placed in front of the sensitive microphone, filtered out extraneous sounds and reduced all noises other than those from voices in the direction of the target.
Audio played a critical role in the rescue of seventy-one people held hostage for four months by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in April 1997. Fifteen armed MRTA terrorists stormed the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Lima, Peru, during a diplomatic Christmas party on December 17, 1996, taking seventy-two Peruvian and foreign hostages. Several days later, when it became apparent that the hostages would be held indefinitely, the Peruvian government began infiltrating listening devices into the residence in hope of acquiring intelligence about the terrorists’ intentions and the status of the hostages’ well-being. Loudspeakers set up at the front of the residence to deliver messages and harass the terrorists were part of the government’s attempt to pressure a surrender.
In January, one hostage, a senior Peruvian government official, suddenly assumed the persona of an isolated eccentric. He began talking incoherently and at random to various inanimate objects in ways that suggested his mental state had deteriorated. The act was a ruse; the official had knowledge of audio operations from his previous work and made a calculated guess that something in the residence could contain a bug. In fact, a religious icon did conceal a transmitter and on one afternoon the listening post monitors heard the hostage pray, “If you hear this, play ‘La Cucaracha’ tomorrow.” Precisely at 6 AM the next morning, “La Cucaracha” blared through the loud speakers, baffling the Lima press as to why the government would use a famous Spanish Civil War song as a harassment tool.
After the musical acknowledgment, the eccentric continued talking to the icon for three months until April 22, when, minutes before the successful rescue assault, he reported that the hostages were in a relatively safe indoor area while the terrorists were in an open area playing their usual afternoon soccer match. The assault was launched, killing the fifteen MRTA revolutionaries and rescuing all but one hostage.
OTS audio techs left nothing to chance in preparation and advance planning for their operations. The complexity and the risk of the activity demanded that each phase of any technical surveillance operation be considered and documented. CIA Headquarters required that a survey and written proposal, known as “the 52-6,” be prepared, submitted, and approved before an audio operation could proceed. The survey consisted of six primary elements.
The target could be a person or a facility such as a telephone line, building, room, or automobile. Methods used to operate against a target varied by the type of information sought. If the target was a briefing by a senior military attaché during his weekly staff meeting,