Polish national arrested on espionage charges on Crete

Police detained the suspect in the Marathi area, a vantage point overlooking the strategic facility. 

According to investigators, the man had been living in a camper van and monitoring the base for approximately four months. 

Authorities believe he photographed warships entering and exiting the port and transmitted the images to an account based in Poland.

The Hellenic National Intelligence Service is currently questioning the suspect, who has denied the allegations. The investigation was launched after a local resident alerted police to suspicious behavior. 

Officers seized the suspect's mobile phone, which reportedly contained the incriminating photographs, along with his vehicle.

The arrest underscores a period of heightened security at Souda Bay, a critical deep-water port utilized by Greece, the United States, and NATO. 

The facility's importance has surged as regional instability in the Middle East has increased naval traffic in the eastern Mediterranean.

This is the third major security incident involving the base in recent months. 

Earlier this month, a 36-year-old Georgian national was detained at Athens International Airport after intelligence officers discovered photos of Souda’s military assets on his phone. In 2025, authorities arrested a 26-year-old Azerbaijani national who was accused of taking thousands of photographs of warships from a nearby hotel.

While officials have not confirmed a direct link between the suspects, security around Greece's military infrastructure has been significantly bolstered. 

Yiannis Kefalogiannis, the minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, has previously noted that surveillance and intelligence gathering are being prioritized to protect national and allied interests during this period of regional volatility.