FBI's 'Operation Monopoly' Tunnel Under Soviet Embassy Revealed as Costly Failure
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) undertook a clandestine operation, codenamed 'Operation Monopoly,' starting in 1977, to tunnel beneath the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C.'s Glover Park neighborhood. The project, which reportedly cost hundreds of millions of dollars—three times the cost of the entire Soviet compound—aimed to tap into Soviet telephone cables and gather intelligence using National Security Agency (NSA) technology. However, the operation was plagued with numerous problems, including water leaks, methane gas pockets, and uncertainty about where the tunnel would emerge beneath the embassy. The FBI's efforts were ultimately compromised when counterintelligence agent Robert Hanssen, who was a KGB informant, disclosed the tunnel's existence to his Soviet handlers around 1985. This betrayal rendered the intelligence-gathering efforts largely ineffective, as the Soviets and later the Russians were able to deploy countermeasures. The American public only learned about 'Operation Monopoly'...
