FBI Director Kash Patel said on July 8, 2026 that agents had arrested 113 active foreign spies, and that counterintelligence arrests rose 53%. Court cases this year include a 200-month Navy sentence, a guilty plea from a former Army soldier, and the November 10 arrest of a 41-year-old US Army soldier in Britain on suspicion of spying for Russia.
Espionage in US 2026 – Introduction
Espionage in US 2026 come from three places: FBI claims, Justice Department court filings and private research groups. No single agency publishes one clean yearly count. The numbers that exist point the same way, though. Arrests are up, soldiers are among the accused, and China and Russia sit behind most major spy cases.
This report gathers the verified figures. It covers the FBI’s counterintelligence claims, soldiers charged with passing secrets, the main China and Russia cases, and what spies were paid. Every person named in a pending case is presumed innocent until a court rules otherwise.
Interesting Facts About Espionage in US 2026
FBI Counterintelligence Claims, July 2026 (1 block = 50)
Plots disrupted | █████████████████ 850
Spies arrested | ██ 113
Chinese removals | █ 62
| Fact | 2026 Data |
|---|---|
| Foreign spies arrested (FBI claim) | 113 |
| Rise in counterintelligence arrests | 53% |
| Chinese spies removed in 2026 | 62 |
| Active plots disrupted | 850 |
| Navy espionage sentence | 200 months |
| Former soldier’s guilty plea | September 2026 |
| Latest soldier arrest | November 10, 2026 |
| China cases tracked by CSIS since 2000 | 224 |
Source: FBI Director Kash Patel, post on X, July 8, 2026; U.S. Department of Justice; Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The first four rows come from one FBI post and a video that went with it. Patel did not say which countries the 113 arrests involved, or what period the 53% rise covers. Treat them as official claims, not audited totals. The 200-month sentence and the guilty plea come from court records and are firmer.
The 224 figure is older. The CSIS survey stops in March 2023 and counts only public cases, so it understates the real total. Still, it gives a baseline. Add the 2026 cases below and the pattern holds: China leads the list, and military personnel keep appearing in it.
FBI Spy Arrest Numbers 2026: What Did Patel Claim?
FBI Claims vs Historic Baselines (1 block = 100)
Active CI cases (2025) | ██████████████████████████████████████████████████ 5,000
Plots disrupted (2026) | █████████ 850
Spies arrested (2026) | █ 113
| Metric | Figure | Date | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign spies arrested | 113 | July 8, 2026 | Countries not named |
| Counterintelligence arrests | Up 53% | July 8, 2026 | Period not stated |
| Chinese spies removed | 62 | 2026 | From an FBI video |
| Active plots disrupted | 850 | July 2026 | Not defined |
| Active counterintelligence cases | Nearly 5,000 | 2025 | Includes all countries |
Source: FBI Director Kash Patel; IBTimes; Newsweek.
Patel posted that 113 active spies from foreign countries had been arrested. The same post said arrests rose 53%. An FBI video said the bureau forced 62 removals of Chinese spies in 2026. Another summary of the post listed 850 active plots disrupted. Analysts note that “foreign spy arrests” is not a legal category and can bundle several charge types.
The caseload figure is older. The FBI said in 2025 that it ran nearly 5,000 active counterintelligence cases, with more than 800 opened that year. Arrests come out of that pool. The 2026 Annual Threat Assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence names China and Russia as the most persistent espionage threats.
Soldiers Charged With Espionage in US 2026: Which Service Members Faced Cases?
Prison Terms in Military Spy Cases (1 block = 10 months)
Wei (Navy, sentenced) | ████████████████████ 200
Duan (Army, max penalty) | ████████████ 120
Schultz (Army, sentenced) | ████████ 84
| Name | Service | Country Involved | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jinchao Wei | Navy (former) | China | Sentenced to 200 months, Jan 2026 |
| Ruoyu Duan | Army (former) | China | Pleaded guilty Sept 2026; sentencing in December |
| Li Tian | Army (active) | China | Charged in Oregon; due back in court |
| Jian Zhao | Army (active) | China | Charged in Washington state |
| Taylor Adam Lee | Army (active) | Russia | Charged under the Espionage Act, 2025 |
| Unnamed soldier, 41 | Army | Russia | Arrested in Britain, Nov 10, 2026 |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; Stars and Stripes; CBS News.
Wei was convicted in August 2025 and sentenced on January 12, 2026. Prosecutors said he sold 60 technical manuals on Navy ships. Duan, 41, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information. He faces up to 10 years. Tian and Zhao were also charged. They were due back in court in October, and no conviction has been reported.
Lee, 22, was a Fort Bliss soldier with a Top Secret clearance. Prosecutors said he tried to pass Abrams tank information to Russia. The newest case came on November 10, 2026, when police in Britain arrested a 41-year-old Army soldier near Gloucester under the National Security Act. No formal charges had been announced. An earlier case, Sgt. Korbein Schultz, ended in a 7-year sentence.
China Spy Cases in US 2026: What Did Prosecutors Allege?
Reported Payments in China-Linked Cases, USD (1 block = $5,000)
Pauken (minimum) | ████████████████████ 100,000
Zhao (minimum) | ███ 15,000
Wei | ██ 12,000
| Person | Role | 2026 Development | Payment Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jinchao Wei | Navy machinist’s mate | Sentenced, 200 months | $12,000 |
| Ruoyu Duan | Former Army soldier | Guilty plea, September | Not stated |
| Jian Zhao | Active Army soldier | Charged | At least $15,000 |
| Thomas Pauken II | Journalist | Guilty plea, June | At least $100,000 |
| Eileen Wang | Mayor of Arcadia, CA | Agreed to plead guilty, May | Not stated |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; Newsweek; Stars and Stripes.
The China cases span ranks and jobs. Wei sold manuals for $12,000. Zhao allegedly received at least $15,000 and, according to court documents, used encrypted apps to negotiate prices with buyers in China. He quoted $3,000 to $4,000 for HIMARS rocket information. Pauken, a journalist, admitted he took at least $100,000 to act as an intermediary for China’s Ministry of State Security.
Wang’s case reaches into local government. She became mayor of Arcadia in February 2026 and agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent. Prosecutors said she worked at Chinese officials’ direction from 2020 to 2022. Taken together, these cases show Beijing recruiting soldiers, sailors, reporters and elected officials.
Russia Spy Cases in US 2026: Which Cases Involve Moscow?
Russia-Linked Cases in This Report
Taylor Lee (Fort Bliss) | █ charged 2025
UK arrest (Nov 2026) | █ arrested, no charges announced
| Case | Age | Allegation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Adam Lee | 22 | Tried to send M1A2 Abrams data to Russia | Charged, 2025 |
| Unnamed Army soldier | 41 | Suspected spying for Russia | Arrested Nov 10, 2026 |
| 2026 Threat Assessment | N/A | Names China and Russia as top espionage threats | Published 2026 |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; Office of the Director of National Intelligence; IBTimes.
Lee’s case reads like a sting. Prosecutors said he gave an SD card to a person he believed was a Russian operative, in exchange for Russian citizenship. He also left Abrams hardware in an El Paso storage unit. The FBI’s Washington and El Paso offices ran the investigation with Army Counterintelligence Command.
The November arrest is the freshest Russia case. The soldier is 41 and was detained near Gloucester on November 10. FBI Director Patel called the allegation serious, and two sites in Gloucestershire were searched. Authorities have not released a name or formal charges, so details may change quickly as the case moves forward.
China Espionage Cases in US Since 2000: What Does the CSIS Survey Show?
Who Carried Out Reported Chinese Espionage (1 block = 2%)
Government or military | ████████████████████████ 49%
Private Chinese citizens| ████████████████████ 41%
Non-Chinese actors | █████ 10%
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Publicly reported incidents since 2000 | 224 |
| Involved Chinese military or government personnel | 49% |
| Involved private Chinese citizens | 41% |
| Involved non-Chinese actors | 10% |
| Share of cases in the 2000-2012 period | 31% |
| Share of cases in the latest decade | 69% |
Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies, Survey of Chinese Espionage in the United States Since 2000.
CSIS counted 224 public incidents through March 2023. Government and military personnel were directly involved in 49% of them, private citizens in 41%, and non-Chinese actors, mostly Americans recruited by Chinese officials, in 10%. The survey leaves out more than 1,200 intellectual property theft cases brought by US companies.
Timing matters too. Only 31% of cases fall in 2000 to 2012. The other 69% came in the decade after. CSIS says the list rests on open sources and probably undercounts. The 2026 cases above are not in the survey, so the true count is higher.
FBI Counterintelligence Caseload 2026: How Big Is the Pipeline?
FBI Counterintelligence Cases, 2020 vs 2025 (1 block = 100)
2020 | ████████████████████████████████████████████ 5,000
2025 | ████████████████████████████████████████████ 5,000
| Measure | 2020 Statement | 2025 Statement |
|---|---|---|
| Active counterintelligence cases | Nearly 5,000 | Nearly 5,000 |
| China-related share | Almost half | Not restated |
| New cases opened | One China case every 10 hours | More than 800 in 2025 |
Source: FBI Director Christopher Wray, 2020; FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, 2025; Latin Times.
The caseload has stayed near 5,000 for years. In 2020, then-Director Christopher Wray said almost half were linked to China and that the bureau opened a China-related case every 10 hours. In 2025, officials said more than 800 new cases had opened that year.
These are active investigations, not arrests. Most never reach a courtroom. They also cover every foreign country, not only China and Russia. The jump from thousands of cases to 113 claimed arrests shows how few investigations produce charges in any given year.
Espionage Case Calendar 2026: Key Dates So Far
2026 Timeline
Jan 12 ──► May ──► June ──► Jul 8 ──► Sep 16 ──► Nov 10 ──► Dec
Wei Wang Pauken Patel Duan UK soldier Duan
sentenced plea plea post plea arrested sentencing
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 12, 2026 | Jinchao Wei sentenced to 200 months |
| May 2026 | Eileen Wang agrees to plead guilty |
| June 2026 | Thomas Pauken II pleads guilty |
| July 8, 2026 | Patel reports 113 spy arrests |
| September 16, 2026 | Ruoyu Duan pleads guilty |
| November 10, 2026 | US Army soldier arrested in Britain |
| December 2026 | Duan sentencing scheduled |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; Newsweek; Stars and Stripes; IBTimes.
The calendar shows a steady run of cases rather than one burst. A sentencing in January, two pleas in the spring and summer, an FBI scorecard in July, another plea in September and an arrest in November all landed inside ten months. Each involved a different agency mix and a different suspect profile.
The next date is the December sentencing for Duan, who faces up to 10 years. Tian and Zhao remain unconvicted, and the UK soldier may face charges. The FBI says arrests are climbing, so more cases will likely join this list before the year ends.
Espionage Charges in US 2026: Which Laws Did Prosecutors Use?
Jinchao Wei Counts: Charged vs Convicted (1 block = 1 count)
Charged | ███████ 7
Convicted | ██████ 6
| Case | Main Charges | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Jinchao Wei | Espionage, conspiracy to commit espionage, Arms Export Control Act violations | Convicted on 6 of 7 counts |
| Ruoyu Duan | Conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information | Pleaded guilty to 1 count |
| Li Tian | Conspiracy to commit bribery, theft of government property | Pending |
| Jian Zhao | National defense information, bribery, theft of government property | Pending |
| Taylor Adam Lee | Attempted transmission of national defense information, Arms Export Control Act | Pending |
| Thomas Pauken II | Acting as an agent of the Chinese government | Pleaded guilty |
| Eileen Wang | Acting as an illegal agent of China | Agreed to plead guilty |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; Stars and Stripes; Newsweek.
Prosecutors use three main tools. The Espionage Act covers national defense information, the Arms Export Control Act covers technical data sent abroad, and agent-of-a-foreign-government laws cover people who work for another state without registering. Wei faced 7 counts, and a jury convicted him on 6. The mix of laws explains why “spy arrests” can mean very different crimes.
Plea deals shape the results. Duan accepted a plea to a single count, which caps his exposure at 10 years. Pauken and Wang resolved cases through guilty pleas rather than trials. Tian, Zhao and Lee have not been convicted. Counts like bribery and theft of government property are common in military cases because they are easier to prove than transmission of secrets.
What Secrets Were Targeted in 2026: Weapons and Information in Spy Cases
Items Named in 2026 Case Filings
Navy ship manuals | ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ 60
Army vehicle/rocket types| ███ 3
| Case | Information at Issue |
|---|---|
| Jinchao Wei | 60 technical and operating manuals on Navy ships |
| Ruoyu Duan and Li Tian | Bradley and Stryker vehicle data, HIMARS rocket system data |
| Jian Zhao | Military information priced for buyers in China |
| Taylor Adam Lee | M1A2 Abrams tank data and a piece of tank hardware |
| Thomas Pauken II | Intelligence on American political targets |
| Eileen Wang | Influence work aimed at the Chinese American community |
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; Stars and Stripes; Newsweek.
Weapons data dominates the soldier cases. Wei sold 60 manuals. Duan and Tian gathered material on the Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles and the HIMARS rocket launcher. Prosecutors said the Duan group worked from late 2021 to December 2024. Lee offered Abrams tank data, plus a physical part, to someone he thought was a Russian agent.
The civilian cases target influence, not hardware. Pauken gathered intelligence on American political figures for China’s Ministry of State Security. Wang promoted Beijing’s interests through a website aimed at the Chinese American community. These cases are the reason FBI officials describe the threat as both military and political.
Espionage in US FAQ 2026
How Many Spies Did the FBI Arrest in 2026?
FBI Director Kash Patel said on July 8, 2026 that 113 active foreign spies had been arrested. He did not name the countries or the period.
How Much Did Counterintelligence Arrests Rise?
Patel said they rose 53%. The FBI did not state the comparison period.
How Many Chinese Spies Did the FBI Remove in 2026?
An FBI video said the bureau forced 62 removals of Chinese spies in 2026.
Which Soldiers Were Charged With Spying in 2026?
Former Army soldier Ruoyu Duan pleaded guilty in September 2026. Active-duty soldiers Li Tian and Jian Zhao were also charged, and a 41-year-old Army soldier was arrested in Britain on November 10.
How Long Was the Navy Spy Sentenced?
Former sailor Jinchao Wei received 200 months on January 12, 2026 for selling Navy manuals to Chinese intelligence for $12,000.
What Is the Penalty in the Duan Case?
Duan faces up to 10 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for December 2026.
Is Russia Spying on the US in 2026?
Prosecutors charged Fort Bliss soldier Taylor Adam Lee in 2025, and the November 2026 arrest in Britain involves suspected Russian espionage. The 2026 Annual Threat Assessment names China and Russia as top threats.
How Many Chinese Espionage Cases Has the US Seen Since 2000?
CSIS recorded 224 public cases through March 2023, with 69% in the latest decade.
How Much Were Spies Paid in These Cases?
Reported payments include $12,000 for Wei, at least $15,000 for Zhao and at least $100,000 for Pauken.
Are the Soldiers Charged Guilty?
Not unless a court says so. Duan pleaded guilty and Wei was convicted, but Tian, Zhao and the UK soldier are presumed innocent.
What Secrets Did Soldiers Try to Sell in 2026?
Court filings name Bradley and Stryker vehicle data, HIMARS rocket information, M1A2 Abrams tank data and 60 Navy ship manuals.
Who Investigates Soldier Spy Cases?
The FBI leads, with Army Counterintelligence Command for Army cases and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for Navy cases.
Did a US Mayor Face Spy Charges in 2026?
Yes. Arcadia, California, Mayor Eileen Wang agreed in May 2026 to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of China.
Where Can I Check Official Case Records?
The Justice Department posts press releases and court filings for each case, and sentencing dates appear on those pages.
Is the 113 Spy Arrest Figure Independently Verified?
No. It comes from an FBI post that names no countries, period or charge types, so treat it as an official FBI claim until the bureau publishes a full breakdown of cases, charges and countries involved.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
