Türkiye detains private detective accused of spying for Mossad

Türkiye on Friday detained a private detective accused of working for Israel’s national intelligence agency Mossad in a joint operation with prosecutors and police in Istanbul, according to security sources.

The National Intelligence Organization of Türkiye, or MIT, said the suspect, identified as Serkan Cicek, was taken into custody during the operation code-named Metron Activity.

Security officials said he had been working for Mossad and was in contact with Faysal Rasheed, a member of Israel’s Online Operations Center.

Cicek allegedly admitted to carrying out surveillance in Istanbul, at Rasheed’s request, on a Palestinian activist who opposes Israel’s Middle East policies.

- Suspect received payment in crypto

According to Turkish intelligence, Cicek -- whose real name is Muhammet Fatih Keles -- changed his name after falling heavily into debt and left his business career to establish a private firm, Pandora Detective Agency, in 2020.

He is said to have worked with Musa Kus, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison for spying for Israel, and with lawyer Tugrulhan Dip, both of whom were found guilty of selling personal data from public records to detectives for profit.

Officials said Cicek drew the attention of Mossad after launching his detective work. On July 31, Rasheed allegedly contacted him via WhatsApp, introducing himself as an employee of a foreign law firm.

Rasheed then tasked Cicek with conducting a four-day surveillance mission on a Palestinian activist living in Basaksehir, on the outskirts of Istanbul. Cicek was reportedly paid $4,000 in cryptocurrency on Aug. 1 to carry out the assignment.

Cicek learned that the target was a Palestinian activist after researching the name online. Despite knowing his associate Kus had been jailed for spying for Israel, he accepted the job.

Authorities said Cicek visited the address given by Rasheed but was unable to find the target. He entered the housing complex on Aug. 1-2 under the pretense of looking for an apartment to rent and carried out reconnaissance, but failed to gather the information Mossad had requested.

On Aug. 3, Rasheed cut off contact, according to officials.