Two Latvian men arrested at RAF base in Cambridgeshire used by US military

Two Latvian men were arrested in the early hours of Thursday after they were discovered inside the perimeter of RAF Molesworth, a Cambridgeshire base used by the US military and Nato for intelligence operations.

The men, 32 and 36, were picked up at 2am inside the base, in an investigation that began four hours earlier when military police discovered an abandoned vehicle outside the facility.

Military police, helped by officers from Cambridgeshire police, discovered a small hole in the perimeter fence before finding and arresting the men, initially on suspicion of trespass on a prohibited site and causing criminal damage.

The suspects, Latvian nationals currently resident in the UK, were then further arrested on suspicion of an offence under section 4 of the National Security Act 2023 – namely entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK.

Counter-terror police are now leading the investigation due to the nature of the incident, which comes a few days after the US withdrew B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire amid concerns about a possible Iran-directed attack.

Read more: The Guardian (UK)