Latvia’s Spy Chief Has Laptop Stolen in Unusual Apartment Burglary

The director of Latvia's domestic counterintelligence and security service has been the victim of a break-in, the Latvian press reports.

Janis Maizitis, the director of Latvia's internal counterintelligence and security service, the Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution [SAB], has had his laptop stolen, Latvian press reported on Wednesday.

According to Delfi.lv, a few days previously burglars broke into his rented flat in the center of Riga and took his laptop and some other smaller items. 

The head of the State Police Ints Kuzis said that police are investigating the burglary, which occurred in an area where apartment thefts are rare. 

SAB spokeswoman Iveta Maura said that it is unknown whether the burglary was a consequence of Maizitis' professional activities. However, the stolen laptop was for personal use, Maura stressed.

"I can confirm that Mr. Maisitis' apartment was burgled. There was no secret information on the computer that was stolen, it was his personal computer. There is no reason for rumors that there was some secret data on it," Maura said, Mixnews reported.

Maizitis is not the only top intelligence official in Latvia to be the victim of crime. His predecessor Janis Kazocins, who headed the SAB until 2013, was attacked in January 2014 by a group of men in the center of Riga who were wielding pepper spray.

Kazocins sustained minor injuries as a result of the assault, which he declared to be a premeditated, politically motivated attack. Three men were later detained in connection with the attack and charged with attempting to inflict serious bodily harm.