Podcast Episode #124 - Double Agent: How I Caught a Russian Spy with Naveed Jamali
A Russian diplomat’s contact card became a souvenir after he was caught by the FBI in the act of espionage during a complex double agent operation in 2009, with the help of Naveed Jamali.
Naveed's parents ran a book store specializing in academic and technical journals in New York City. One day in the mid-1980s, an unexpected customer came calling: a diplomat from the Soviet Mission to the United Nations. Just minutes after the diplomat left with his purchases, a pair of FBI agents walked in and asked what he’d bought. This was the inauspicious beginning to a years-long relationship between Naveed’s family, the FBI, and a long line of Soviet officials.
Every few months his parents dutifully reported on purchases made by the Soviet officials, who were always searching for open-source technical information which they could send back home, in violation of export regulations. The FBI kept tabs on their activity but did not move to arrest or expel them.
Then, in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in New York, Naveed sought a higher calling than a humdrum career in the tech sector. He applied for a direct commission as an officer in the US Navy Reserve but realized that wasn’t the only way to serve his country. With Russian officials still coming into the book store on a regular basis, he offered more assistance to the FBI than just dutifully reporting on journal purchases. He could help them catch a Russian spy in the act of espionage.
Thus began an escalating series of encounters as Oleg Kulikov sought to understand the motivations of the young man volunteering his services after so many years of casual contacts. Naveed took himself far out of his comfort zone and deep into the world of espionage as he helped the FBI lay a trap for Kulikov.
For episode 124 of the Spycraft 101 podcast I spoke with Naveed Jamali, author of ‘How to Catch a Russian Spy’. We discussed his unexpected career as a double agent for the FBI and the highs and lows of spy life.
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