Turkish Intelligence Arrests Two Working for the Mossad

SadaNews - The Turkish intelligence agency has arrested two individuals involved in working for the Israeli intelligence agency "Mossad", named "Muhammad Budak Derya" and "Veysel Karimoglu".

Security sources informed the Anadolu Agency that the arrest of the two individuals took place in Istanbul, where they had been under surveillance by the intelligence for some time and it was established that they were transferring information to the Mossad.

Derya is an engineer in the mining field, having established his own company in 2005, and opened a marble quarry in the Silifke district of Mersin province in southern Turkey. He began exporting his products to several countries worldwide, which drew the attention of Israeli intelligence.

Derya communicated with a person named "Ali Ahmed Yassin", a codename for a leader in a fake company set up by the Mossad, according to the sources.

In 2012, Yassin visited Derya in his office and expressed his company's desire to collaborate with him and invited him to a European country to meet what he described as the company’s directors.

- Meetings with Mossad operatives as a businessman

The sources mentioned that Derya saw this as a business opportunity, so in 2013 he traveled to Europe and met with people from the Mossad who presented themselves as company owners, where the details of the marble trade were discussed during the meetings.

One of the Israeli intelligence operatives, who used the alias "Louis", confirmed to Derya the necessity of employing the Palestinian origin and Turkish national Veysel Karimoglu.

Based on Mossad directives, Derya employed Karimoglu, with his salary paid by Israeli intelligence operatives, and the relationship between them developed into friendship.

- Transferring information about Palestinians opposed to Israel

Derya expanded his business activities in several Middle Eastern countries with Karimoglu's assistance and established social and business relationships with Palestinians who opposed Israeli policies against the region's countries, transmitting the information he gathered about them to the Mossad.

According to the sources, Derya, who was seeking permission to enter the Gaza Strip leveraging his business connections established under Israeli occupation policies, sent images of warehouses he was searching for there to Israeli intelligence.

In early 2016, Karimoglu suggested to Derya to enter the business of drone parts.

Derya reported every step they took to the Mossad, thus immediately informing them of the proposal, which they approved and provided the initial samples.

Among those who attempted to sell drones to them was "Mohammad Al-Zouari", who was assassinated by Israeli intelligence in Tunisia in 2016.

The sources confirmed that Derya maintained his ties with Israeli intelligence from 2013 until his arrest.

During this period, Derya held meetings in various European countries with multiple intelligence agents using aliases such as "Louis, Jesus/Jose, Dr. Roberto/Ricardo, Dan/Dennis, Mark, Eli/Eimi, and Michael".

- Passed lie detector tests

Sources indicated that Israeli intelligence prioritized secrecy to avoid jeopardizing the operation they had conducted for many years, providing Derya with a secure communication system and subjecting him to a lie detector test in an Asian country in 2016, which he successfully passed. He also underwent a similar test in 2024 at a hotel in a European country, which he managed to pass as well, allowing the Mossad to elevate their operation to a higher level.

Following the Mossad's instructions, Derya purchased SIM cards, modems, and routers from Turkey and other countries, sending images of their technical information, including their serial numbers and MAC addresses.

- Arrested before establishing a fake company

In January of last year, Derya held an important meeting with Mossad operatives outside Turkey where plans were made to establish a fake company for operational purposes.

According to the plan, the aim was to infiltrate international commercial supply chains, with the Mossad coordinating the shipment of products secured from countries specified by it to end users.

Sources stated that shipping operations were to be managed through three legitimate companies in Asian countries, one of which would procure the products, store them in its warehouses, and repack them, while the second would hold the products for a period in its warehouses, and the third would export the products it would receive from the second to the final destination designated by the Mossad.

The fake company to be established under Derya's management was also to manage the entire supply chain, from securing the products to the export stage, for the benefit of the Israeli intelligence agency.

During Derya's last meeting with Mossad officials in January, this plan was discussed, including opening the necessary bank account for the fake company, designing its website, creating accounts for it on social media, as well as conducting research about the companies they would partner with.

However, Derya and Karimoglu, who had been under the surveillance of Turkish intelligence for some time, were arrested in Istanbul as part of an operation carried out in cooperation with the intelligence agency, the public prosecutor's office, and the Istanbul Security Directorate.