The High-Stakes World of Espionage: Inside the CIA’s Bag of Tricks
When you’re deep in the world of espionage, staying invisible is the golden rule, and CIA operatives are the masters of it. Meeting with a contact in some foreign hotspot, especially when you’ve got enemy eyes tracking your every move, is about as high-stakes as it gets. But for these folks, it’s all in a day’s work. They’ve got a bag of tricks, polished over decades, to make sure their clandestine rendezvous stay off the radar.
Take the Surveillance Detection Route, or SDR. It’s like a spy’s warm-up routine before the big game. The whole idea is to make sure no one’s tailing you before you even think about meeting your contact. Imagine you’re a CIA operative in Moscow, a city swarming with FSB (that’s Russian Federal Security Service) agents. You wouldn’t just stroll over to your meeting point, right? Instead, you’d spend an hour or more zigzagging across the city, jumping on and off buses, taking the metro, weaving through crowded streets — all to lose any shadows and make sure you’re not dragging unwanted company to your meet-up.
This isn’t just the stuff of spy flicks — it’s straight out of real life. CIA operatives have been using SDRs since the Cold War, back when Moscow’s streets were a giant chessboard of spies and counterspies. It’s not just about getting from point A to point B; it’s about staying a few steps ahead in a deadly game where the wrong move can get you checkmated for good.
I liked the spy flick, “The Bourne Identity,” with Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon, a master at the art of staying unseen! He uses the Surveillance Detection Route (SDR) like a pro, slipping through city streets, constantly changing his path, and hopping between different forms of transportation to throw off anyone trying to tail him. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to keep up with him.
In my spy thriller “Mission of Vengeance,” CIA spymaster Corey Pearson does the same thing in the chaotic streets of the Dominican Republic. With Russian GRU spies on his tail, Pearson navigates through bustling markets, jumps from taxis to buses, and vanishes into the crowd, leaving his pursuers in the dust. Both Bourne and Pearson treat the SDR like an art form, proving just how critical these maneuvers are in the dangerous world of espionage, where one wrong move can be the end.
Then there’s the classic spy move called ‘Cover for Action’. This tactic is all about looking like you’re just another face in the crowd — maybe a tourist shopping at a market or a businessperson grabbing a coffee. But in reality, you’re on a mission. This was famously pulled off by CIA operative Tony Mendez during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. He posed as a Canadian film producer scouting locations for a fake sci-fi movie — “Argo” — while actually planning the escape of six American diplomats.
A few years back, I attended an AFIO luncheon with Tony Mendez. For almost two hours, he shared how he used the ‘Cover for Action’ tactic to pull off the daring escape. If you’re interested, I wrote an article about that all-revealing luncheon (It’s a bit dated, but still a good read): Tony Mendez, the Hero Behind the Movie Argo.
When a face-to-face meeting is too risky, CIA operatives might opt for a tried-and-true method: the Dead Drop. This involves leaving information or items in a concealed location for later retrieval by the contact. It’s an old-school tactic but incredibly effective. During the Cold War, operatives in Berlin used everything from hollowed-out rocks to specially designed fake tree stumps as dead drops. They’d leave microfilm or secret messages inside, which their contacts picked up later without the two ever meeting in person.
However, modern-day dead drops have evolved with technology, utilizing cloud-based services like Google Drive or encrypted messaging apps to exchange sensitive information without direct contact. CIA operatives upload encrypted files to shared folders or use secure communication channels, allowing their contacts to access the data remotely. This method minimizes the risk of detection, offering a modern twist on traditional espionage tactics.
But when a personal meeting is unavoidable, the ‘Brief Encounter’ is the way to go. The key here is speed and subtlety. CIA operatives use prearranged signals or codes to exchange information quickly — often in a matter of seconds — before moving on and blending back into the environment. Picture a quick brush pass in a crowded train station, where a seemingly innocent exchange of greetings actually transfers a critical piece of intelligence. It’s a tactic that’s been used by spies in countless real-life operations, including the infamous “Cambridge Five” spies who operated in Britain during World War II.
In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), the classic spy tactic of a brush pass is skillfully used. The scene is simple but tense — a subtle handoff between two spies, where a crucial piece of information changes hands in the blink of an eye, with no words exchanged. It’s the perfect way to pass intel without drawing any attention.
Similarly, in my spy thriller novel Mission of Vengeance, CIA spymaster Corey Pearson finds himself in the Dominican Republic, where he uses this very technique. During a covert operation, one of Pearson’s CIA team members executes a brush pass, slipping him the detailed layout of a former Russian KGB spy’s estate. The exchange happens seamlessly in a crowded market, where the chaos of everyday life serves as the perfect cover. Just like in the movie, this brush pass keeps the operation under the radar, demonstrating how this timeless tactic continues to be a staple in the world of espionage.
Whether it’s in real life, on the silver screen or in the pages of a thriller, the brush pass is all about precision, stealth, and timing — key elements that make or break a mission.
Finally, there’s the choice of Third-Party Locations. Rather than meeting in places that are directly linked to either party, operatives often choose neutral, busy public spaces. These locations offer a layer of anonymity thanks to the presence of others, making it difficult for foreign intelligence to monitor or pinpoint who’s meeting whom.
For example, a bustling shopping mall, a crowded train station, or even a public park can be the perfect setting for a discreet exchange. During the 1980s, when the CIA was deeply involved in operations in Eastern Europe, agents often used these kinds of locations to meet with informants, away from the prying eyes of the local secret police.
A real-life instance of this tactic occurred during the Cold War. In the 1980s, CIA officer Aldrich Ames, who was a double agent working for the Soviet Union, frequently used third-party locations to meet with his KGB handlers. Rather than meeting in safe houses or other easily identifiable spots, Ames and his contacts would choose busy public places like parks or crowded restaurants in Washington, D.C.
These locations offered the perfect cover, as the hustle and bustle of everyday life made it difficult for counterintelligence teams to track who was meeting whom. The anonymity provided by these third-party locations allowed Ames to pass on classified information without arousing suspicion, which tragically led to the compromise of numerous CIA operations and the deaths of several U.S. assets.
In the world of espionage, staying one step ahead isn’t just a strategy — it’s a necessity. These five tactics — Surveillance Detection Routes, Cover for Action, Dead Drops, Brief Encounters, and Third-Party Locations — are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lengths CIA operatives go to keep their missions under wraps. It’s a high-stakes game where even the smallest slip-up can have catastrophic consequences. But thanks to these tried-and-true methods, these operatives manage to pull off what seems impossible, time and time again.
Knowing that there are undercover CIA agents out there, willing to risk it all to figure out what our enemies are up to, should give Americans some peace of mind. These are the folks who ensure we stay a step ahead in a dangerous world, and their bravery is what keeps us all a little safer every day.
Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and authors the ‘Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster’ series. Check out his latest spy thriller, ‘Mission of Vengeance’.