Two men have been arrested after being found inside an RAF base used by the US military in the UK.
The Metropolitan Police said two Latvian men, aged 36 and 32, were arrested in the early hours of Thursday by Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) on suspicion of trespassing inside the base perimeter at RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire, 100km north of London.
RAF Molesworth is home to US intelligence-operation centres for Europe and Africa, as well as a Nato intelligence hub, according to the CIA's website. It is the second airbase used by the US in Britain to be subject to a security alert in the past two weeks. The US pulled all its strategic bombers out of the UK over concerns at RAF Fairford after an incident.
Both men remain in police custody and an investigation is being carried out by counter-terrorism police.
At this stage, the incident is not being linked to the several arrests that were made in connection to RAF Fairford.
The pair were detained at RAF Molesworth after an MDP patrol near the perimeter spotted an abandoned vehicle. Police officers attended and carried out further searches around the site.
A small breach of the perimeter fence was identified, leading to the two men being found and arrested. They were initially arrested on suspicion of trespassing on a prohibited site and criminal damage, and were taken to a Cambridgeshire police station.
The pair have since been arrested again on suspicion of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK under the National Security Act 2023
“We’re very aware of the recent heightened interest and concern around military sites, but at this stage there is nothing to suggest this incident is connected to the events at RAF Fairford last week,” said Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, which is leading the investigation.
“Our investigation into this incident is at its very early stages. 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 at this stage and enquiries are very much ongoing.”
Officers are carrying out two searches at addresses in the Peterborough area, about 30km from the RAF base, in connection with the investigation.
The abandoned vehicle was recovered by police and is undergoing further searches. Concerns over the vehicle led to the deployment of specialist ordnance disposal officers to carry out additional checks. As a precaution, a cordon was put in place but was lifted after nothing of concern was found.
On Tuesday, a British citizen, 22, was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts in connection with the incident close to RAF Fairford, counter-terrorism police said.
Five men, aged 23 to 25, had already been arrested on September 27 near the base on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, before being released on bail in what police called an “investigative decision” that was “grounded in experience and strategy”.
A sixth man, a 25-year-old dual Iranian-British citizen, was arrested on October 1 in Westminster, central London and was later released on bail.
