Two Latvian men arrested at RAF Molesworth military base

Two Latvian men have been arrested inside the perimeter of RAF Molesworth, a highly sensitive military base in Cambridgeshire used by US and Nato intelligence forces.

The suspects, aged 32 and 36, were discovered inside the secure boundary at around 2am on Thursday. The security response had begun four hours earlier, at around 10pm on Wednesday, when military police spotted an abandoned vehicle parked outside the facility.

Officers from the military police, assisted by Cambridgeshire Police, searched the boundary and found a small hole cut into the perimeter fence. They tracked the two suspects inside the base and arrested them shortly afterwards.

The men, who are Latvian nationals currently living in the UK, were initially arrested on suspicion of trespassing on a prohibited site and causing criminal damage. They were later arrested under Section 4 of the National Security Act 2023, which covers entering a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK.

Because of the nature of the breach and the sensitivity of the site, the investigation has been taken over by counter-terrorism officers.

Commander Helen Flanagan, who leads London’s counter-terrorism policing unit, said officers are keeping an open mind about why the men were there. She said there is nothing yet to connect the incident to a recent security alert at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, where the US recently withdrew B-1 bombers following concerns over a possible Iran-backed attack.

"Our investigation into this incident is at its very early stages," Flanagan said. "A big part of this is looking at any potential motivation as to why the men were present at the site, but I must stress we are keeping an open mind."

The discovery of the abandoned car triggered a wider security operation. Because of initial concerns during the search of the vehicle, police called in explosives specialists to inspect it. This led to a temporary police cordon on a section of the A1 road south of Peterborough and around the nearby village of Glatton. Police said nothing of concern was found during the sweeps.

As part of the ongoing inquiry, counter-terror officers are searching two properties in the Peterborough area. Both suspects remain in police custody.

RAF Molesworth does not host active flights but is a major hub for Western military intelligence. It houses Nato’s Intelligence Fusion Centre, which provides intelligence to the alliance, and the US military's Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe, which analyses data for the American European Command.