A BIZARRE PLOT BY KGB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000301850002-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 11, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 21, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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RADIO IV REPORTS, INC.
4701 WILLARD AVENUE, CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND 20815 [phone]
News 7 at 5:30 S1A1ION WJLA TV
August 21, 1985 5:30 PM
Washington, DC
A Bizarre Plot by KGB
DORIS MCMILLON: There is word tonight of a bizarre plot
by the Soviet KGB to track Americans in Russia with a chemical, a
chemical that may cause cancer.
JIM DYER: Doris, the news surfaced at the State
Department early this afternoon that Soviet agents had dusted
doorknobs and steering wheels on automobiles with an invisible
power.
STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The substances in question,
which have been applied indirectly to embassy personnel, leave
deposits on the person or possessions of people with whom they
have had contact.
DYER: State says the chemical had been used sporadical-
ly in recent years but it's only been in the past six months that
the use of the chemical has become common practice. State
officials add that although the substance could potentially cause
cancer, there is no evidence to show that any Americans have
suffered from exposure to it.
George Carver is an intelligence expert. He served as a
deputy for intelligence at the CIA. He is joining us now from
the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies in
his office. Mr. Carver, glad to have you with us today.
GEORGE CARVER: It's my pleasure.
DYER: First of all, once someone is exposed to this
power, we understand the Soviets can trace them. They know
exactly where they are going in the city. How does it work?
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CARVER: Well, I'm not an expert and I know only what
I've heard today. It's not so much as a hi-tech blood hound, the
little fellow running along behind you with an instrument, but
the -- if they visit a home, say a dissident's home, their feet
go across that dissident's doorway, their hands grasp that
dissident's doorknob, and you can tell where they have been,
though not necessarily follow them as they are going there.
DYER: So from a tracking standpoint, it's not so much
of knowing exactly where they are right at the moment but perhaps
where they have been instead.
CARVER: It's proving conclusively where some American
or American official has been. And, for example, if you have a
dissident who was foolish enough to take basket three (?) of the
Helsinki Agreement seriously, and the KGB is cracking down on him
and doesn't want him seeing Americans, they can have proof
positive that one has been to his apartment.
DORIS MCMILLON: Mr. Carver, why do you think the
Russians started using this substance so much in the past six
months and how long has it been in use?
CARVER: Well, I don't know precisely how long it's been
in use. Apparently for a number years.
The Soviets are very paranoid about foreigners, particu-
larly about foreign officials, and, above all, about Americans.
They have always used hi-tech counter-intelligence and espionage,
so the fact that they would do it with power is no surprise.
You've got to remember that for years, during the middle
and late 1970s, they bathe the embassy -- our embassy in high
intensity microwave radiation which was also dangerous to
people's health, so that they could monitor our conversations and
our communications.
MCMILLON: Are we using anything like this?
CARVER: No. We would not use things like this for a
variety of reasons. First place, to implant it you have to
completely control the turf the way they control our embassy,
which is also the residence of most of the people who work there.
The janitors, the guards, the electricians, the maintenance men,
all work for the KGB.
Also, we have moral and ethical and other requirements
inhibitions against using things of this nature. But the Soviets
don't have to file -- the KGB files no environmental impact
statements. There is no FDA to worry about in the Soviet Union,
and they don't care what Ralph Nader thinks.
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DYER: Mr. Carver, quickly before we go, why did the
State Department choose this particular time to suddenly announce
this, that the powder is, in effect, being used, if it's been
going on for months before?
CARVER: Well, I think that they were waiting for an
accumulation of medical evidence. And my belief is that probably
enough medical evidence came in that they felt they had to warn
the Americans, both official and non-official, who could be
affected, and hence had no choice but to make a public announce-
ment. I don't think they picked the timing or even desired it.
DYER: All right. Mr. Carver, thank you very much for
being with us today. As we said, former Deputy Director for
Intelligence at the CIA.
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