Stephen Ivens/police photo

Authorities have described him as suicidal and possibly armed with a handgun.

That’s how they described missing FBI agent Stephen Ivens, 35, from Burbank, Calif.

Authorities continued the search Monday. “There is no evidence of foul play right now, but that is why we still have a robust effort to locate him,” Burbank Police Capt. Dennis Cremins told CNN affiliate KCAL over the weekend.  To read more click here.

In May 2004, the F.B.I. special agent James J. Smith found himself in an uncomfortable spot: he had to tell a federal judge about an affair he’d had with an informer, Katrina Leung, a San Marino, Calif., businesswoman with “jet-black hair,” while his wife and son were sitting in the courtroom. “Argh!” he later wrote to friends.

In “Tiger Trap: America’s Secret Spy War With China,” David Wise writes about the ineptitude of American agents. Not only was Smith having an affair with Leung, Wise says, but so was another F.B.I. man, William Cleveland, who was the head of a Chinese counterintelligence squad in San Francisco. Neither seemed to know that Leung was sleeping with the other, nor did they know that she was working for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security. Double argh.

With this case and others, Wise documents not only the adroitness of Chinese agents, but also how China has for several decades “penetrated” the United States, as he puts it. “Penetrate” and “penetration” are two of his favorite words, appearing at least a dozen times, often in connection with Leung, who, despite the fact that she was taking classified documents from Smith’s briefcase during their trysts, was seen as “his prize asset.” Wise’s language, particularly in the descriptions of Leung, gives parts of his book a quasi-­pornographic feel.

To read more click here.

softair gun from online catalogue

A Navy SEAL and two other men have been busted in an ATF sting in which they allegedly smuggled illegal firearms, including AK-47 assault rifles, from Iraq and Afghanistan, and sold them to an undercover agent, federal authorities in Las Vegas said Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Nicholas Bickle, 33, assigned to a SEAL team based in Coronado, Calif,  Richard Paul, 34, of Durango, Colo., and Andrew Kaufman, 36, of Las Vegas,  were indicted in the case, the Times reported.

The three allegedly sold 18 AK-47s and 14 other firearms to an undercover ATF agent in  Las Vegas, Durango, and Bayfield, Colo., according to Daniel G. Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada.

Authorities said the AK-47s sold for $1,300 each and six handguns for $300 apiece, the LA Times reported.