Redazione RHC : 26 September 2025 10:43
Dutch police have arrested two 17-year-old boys on suspicion of espionage activities, with possible links to Russia, the Telegraaf newspaper reported on Friday.
The father of one of the young men claimed his son was recruited via Telegram by a pro-Russian hacker. In August, the boy allegedly showed up at the offices of Europol, Eurojust, and the Canadian Embassy in The Hague carrying a so-called “Wi-Fi sniffer,” a device capable of detecting nearby wireless networks and intercepting their data.
The prosecutor has not provided official comment on the case, citing the young age of the suspects. However, it has been confirmed that one of the two will remain in custody for an additional two weeks, while the other has been placed under house arrest and required to wear an electronic tag.
According to the main suspect’s parent, eight men wearing balaclavas broke into their home on Monday afternoon with a search warrant. The officers went directly to the room where the boy was doing his homework and took him away without further explanation, limiting themselves to talking about “espionage” and “services to a foreign country.”
The father described his son as a reserved person, passionate about video games and with excellent computer skills , who works part-time at a supermarket and shows no interest in outside work. The arrests were made following information provided by the Dutch intelligence service (AIVD).
Although similar cases have never been made public in the Netherlands, in Germany the government has already launched awareness campaigns aimed at young people to prevent their involvement in espionage activities as “disposable agents”.
Redazione