The Wire - May 13, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z May 13, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: BOMB THREAT GROUNDS AIRCRAFT IN BELGIUM. ARSON ATTACK STRIKES BRITISH PM'S RESIDENCE.//

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-International Events-

Belgium: This morning a bomb threat was reported onboard a RyanAir flight inbound to Charleroi Airport, prompting a security lockdown. Once the aircraft landed at the airport, passengers were evacuated at a remote section of the airport while the aircraft was inspected. It is unclear as to if any explosive threat was found onboard the aircraft.

United Kingdom: An arson attack was reported at the Prime Minister's residence yesterday afternoon. PM Starmer's private residence in North London was attacked by an assailant, who set fire to the front door of the structure. One assailant has been arrested in conjunction with this incident.

AC: Local authorities are keeping quiet regarding this incident, so details are very hard to verify. However, this appears to be the fairly standard Molotov attack, or something similar.

Middle East: President Trump's visit to the region continues, with mostly trade deals being the focus of proceedings so far. This morning the United States and Saudi Arabia signed what the White House calls the largest arms deal in history, a $142 billion agreement for various American arms. President Trump also announced the removal of sanctions from the nation of Syria.

France: This afternoon an attempted kidnapping was reported in Paris, involving a family member of a major cryptocurrency exchange executive. The victims, who have not been identified, successfully evaded capture from the assailants who attempted to pull them into an unmarked van.

 -HomeFront-

Maryland: A multi-alarm fire was reported at a vacant mattress warehouse in west Baltimore overnight. Amtrak service was briefly interrupted due to the fire, as the rail lines were located directly adjacent to the burning structure.

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Analyst Comments: The kidnapping of crypto executives has become a rather common occurrence throughout Europe over the past few years as the cryptocurrency world becomes much more high profile. Several CEOs of crypto exchanges have been robbed, or kidnapped and held for ransom in very sophisticated heists over the past few months alone. Back in January, a family member of a crypto exchange executive was kidnapped in Paris as well, and his amputated finger sent to police. This individual was finally rescued on May 5th by counterterrorism forces. Now, roughly a week later, another high-profile kidnapping was attempted in the same exact city. Black-bag street kidnappings appear to be the main vector for the kidnapping ring, which also bears the hallmarks of a much more substantial organized crime syndicate. Either way, most of the crypto executives that have been involved in these cases have demonstrated rather poor personal security (PERSEC), and have been known to present significant vulnerabilities via posts on social media.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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