Two brit hams arrested as spies in Albania . . . have a look at their gear . . .

[MUTNAV]

A Border Crossing

I was blessed with a varied, colourful career (tho I am mercifully retired now) - that placed me into some interesting places.
.... And--
For some time I was posted to a Latin American country as a "Technical Advisor."

I had a glorious time !

My host country liked Americans and I was afforded every courtesy and privilege - including a amateur radio license---
A country next door wasn't all warm and fuzzy towards the US however, nor to their neighbor, my host, for that matter-- and both countries kept hostile armed presences on their borders.

Even though there was a marked suspicion about me and my associates by 'neighboring country,' we would often drive to the border, park and walk across to the shops and popular restaurants just on the other side.

Every thing was copacetic, that is, until I needed to renew my Visa for 'neighboring country' (NC.)
In retrospect I should have done it while I was visiting NC, but instead I went down my street to their consulate.
A "Colonel" such-an-such (they are all colonels down there) put a new stamp in my passport and signed my visa.

____________________________________

All was well, until a group of us were returning from a visit to NC ---

"Señora, your passport ---it's not in order"

What ??

Thus began a 'fun' afternoon.
To my companions (safely walking across the border) "call the Embassy and our Agency !"

For the remainder of the day I saw a parade of Uniforms, all questioning me what was my connection to this consulate's Colonel Such-and Such.
The Uniforms treated me civilly, but it was plain I was in serious trouble.

So I sat

Finally, as the sun was setting a young officer whom I hadn't seen before, resplendent in a flashy uniform approached me.

"You are free to leave Señora"

Huh !!??

"I will issue you a new visa (for $$) and you may leave"

_____________________________


As I walked across the border I half expected a bullet in my back---

"She was a spy-----she tried to escape"

_____________________________

Turns out the fellow at the consulate *Was!* a 'spy' and he defect'd shortly before my visit to "NC.'
I was guilty by association,

............said the people at the US Embassy who saved my sorry rear end----

"You were very lucky Lauri"
"You were in more serious truble than you can imagine"

----------Some things are better learned afterwards


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He defected to NC and you were held by NC?
Thanks
Joel

 

[MUTNAV]

I crossed the state line once and no one cared.

And sorry for no sexy image of some random female lifted from the web.

She's painting a picture (I think), in her case it's good to smile, in my case its more like the Joker going after Batman, or Jack Nickelson holding a giant radio and having a big grin, and sadly most hams are probably that way.

Thanks
Joel

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Joel, the fellow who gave me the Visa defected to who knew where...our side maybe ?

As far as the photos ?... good grief, give me a break Kevin !....Like I am going to post RL photo's of myself in here.....Geeez.
Try and be entertaining and not anal and this is what you get...........

 

[KevinC]

Joel, the fellow who gave me the Visa defected to who knew where...our side maybe ?

As far as the photos ?... good grief, give me a break Kevin !....Like I am going to post RL photo's of myself in here.....Geeez.
Try and be entertaining and not anal and this is what you get...........

I thought I was being entertaining also. I guess I thought wrong.

 

[MUTNAV]

Joel, the fellow who gave me the Visa defected to who knew where...our side maybe ?

As far as the photos ?... good grief, give me a break Kevin !....Like I am going to post RL photo's of myself in here.....Geeez.
Try and be entertaining and not anal and this is what you get...........

Your picking good photos.... All G is all I care about, and as I said, it paints a picture of a person that can smile without setting off alarm bells, vs some others as I mentioned.

Thanks
Joel

 

[paulears]

Albania may now be a member of NATO but note how Mediterranean cruises seem to ‘skip’ them and visit the countries next door!

 

[Cognomen]

I mean turn a knob, or type in a frequency, then a split, then a CTCSS tone, and stick a name in. This Kenwoods can do that with a laptop. Not from the radio.

My NX-5200 and NX-5300 have FPP licenses, so I don't require a laptop for adding or editing channels in the field.

I do agree that Amateur radios are easier to FPP, but the only Amateur portable I have is a 220/900 dual-bander. lol

 

[MUTNAV]

So this supports the idea that they (the government in question) likes to keep eyes on people more than many of us would otherwise think.

Globalist WEF urges people to give up car ownership | WND | by Art Moore

A World Economic Forum leader has cheerfully told younger people they can look forward to a future in which they will own nothing and be happy. So it's no surprise that giving up private cars – an icon of American culture symbolic of the nation's spirit of independence and distinctive upholding...

www.wnd.com

Thanks
Joel

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

Ah !! The WEF !

"You'll own nothing and be happy" (including you ham radio's no doubt)

________________________________________________________

When I want to think about a WEF future where better than to turn but a 'documentary' by Borat .

Haven't experienced him ?

Here's a peek, товарищ ! (Comrad-ski )

Lauri

 

[MUTNAV]

From the article Lucas pointed out that "the lack of access to cars meant that in the Albanian police state the people could be watched easily."



Thanks
Joel

 

[millrad]

Seems like the main point here is that carrying two-way radios into a foreign country, isn't a good idea without securing permission ahead of time. These guys are lucky not to be locked in some disease infested prison. What the hell were they thinking?

 

[MUTNAV]

Seems like the main point here is that carrying two-way radios into a foreign country, isn't a good idea without securing permission ahead of time. These guys are lucky not to be locked in some disease infested prison. What the hell were they thinking?

Yup... Thats a good lesson to take away from it.

It's not just being considered as spies, in Turkey (Nice country BTW) they have a thing where everything you take into the country has to be taken out, otherwise they consider it as being sold on the black market for a high price.

So.... If you bring a radio into the country (even with permission to operate a ham station), you better take it back out, it doesn't matter if it no longer works and you dumped it. This isn't that important for ham radios as most people will keep even a busted radio, but even alarm clock radios (and bicycles and such) are id'd by serial number.

So it's nice to know as many of the (crazy to us) rules wherever you go... Like in England, being drunk with your car keys in your pocket is evidence that you intended to commit a crime and drive...

I'm sure that there are also actual laws in the US that we routinely don't care or think about, that others take very seriously.

Thanks
Joel

 

[6079smithw]

From the article Lucas pointed out that "the lack of access to cars meant that in the Albanian police state the people could be watched easily."
Thanks Joel

Here in Reno it's the first day of the Hot August Nights annual event. >7500 classic vehicles here for a week.
Mr. MUTNAV's post is dead on... sometimes we don't realize how good we got it here, warts and all...

 

[alcahuete]

Anyone else ever been to Albania? Let me just say...it's a place where you don't want to be caught with a radio of any kind. In fact, I would say most foreign countries are places you don't want to get caught with radios. Your ham license as an American means very little to the common policemen or border guards. And yes, in most places you will probably be acquitted and released, but how long are you going to sit in a foreign prison until that acquittal comes?

I do not take my radios of any kind into foreign countries, and if I'm on a cruise or such, the radios stay on board, or right around the ship.

 

[paulears]

The band toured all over the place (in europe and the Middle East) and we'd always have a few walkie talkies in the baggage. The only time we got singled out was in the UAE when they had fished out all our IEM packs and guitar kit. It was resolved by plugging in one to a guitar, and then giving them a pack on the same channel, with some headphones! Nobody bothered about walkie talkies. However, I've been to communist and ex-communist countries where there were secret police, and years back one guy took a picture on a 'film' camera at the airport and a guy with a fur hat and machine gun grabbed the camera, ripped out the film and said no photos! Like in the movies. Places where being friendly with the locals involved being wary of the watchers. Albania is still one of those xenophobic countries I'm told.

For info - hams setting up shop in a foreign remote country needs (and has ALWAYS needed) permission from the country. Callsigns need to be assigned and co-ordinated, and ANY ham from ANY country knows this. The idea of just taking radios into a foreign country could be a mistake for non-hams, as they would not know the problems, but real hams would know, and tests required by most countries include licensing issues.

They were either stupid non-hams, or spies. Hopefully just stupid.

TO Cognomen - I did not know the Kenwood 5000 series was programmable from the keypad - thanks for that, very useful info - cheers.

 

[buddrousa]

The NX-5000 series walkies can be face programmed if you buy the licensees for each radio also you cannot face program trunking just conventional.

 

[KN4EHX]

Gotta keep your radio in your shoe according to 1960’s spy movies.

 

[MUTNAV]

Gotta keep your radio in your shoe according to 1960’s spy movies.

Like "Get Smart"

Thanks
Joel

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

.
KN4EHX----
Good advice (your YouTube)--- for anyone traveling abroad--- Spy or not.

What many don't realize its the small details that give us way ..... like eating with your left hand holding the fork inverted-- I had to work on that one............. grins.

.

 

[paulears]

It’s been on UK TV that the gangs who are charging 4000 to people who want to get into the UK on a boat are ……… Albanian!