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Agency 2008 sensor planting mission reportedly ended in tragedy
[MAIL] Their mission was to sail from Malaysia, and dive down to place a 'pod' disguised as a rock beneath the surface. The pod would monitor electronic signals of Chinese naval ships operating in the area.

The crew would sail on to Japan, spend a few weeks there, then return to collect the device.

Their 40 foot boat was secretly owned by the CIA, yet the four had a cover story that they had been hired to transport the vessel from Malaysia for a client in Japan, and they had the paperwork and documentation to back up the story if questioned.

They also were using commercially-available scuba diving gear, rather than U.S. government-issued kit. The problem, however, came in the shape of Tropical Storm Higos.

The storm was forecast to take a sharp turn away from them, and so on September 28, 2008, Stanek - commanding the crew - made the fatal decision to go ahead with the mission.

Higos did not change course, however, and smacked straight into the little boat. The CIA had a beacon on the ship that tracked the boat right into the center of the storm until it disappeared.
Posted by: Besoeker 2020-09-20
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=582743