Estonian held on allegations of spying for Russia

Wasif Chudhary



TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Estonian prosecutors say a security official has been detained on suspicion of giving classified information to Russia.

Prosecutors say Aleksei Dressen and his wife were arrested in Estonia as she was boarding a flight to Moscow.

Spokeswoman Kadri Tammai said Wednesday that the wife was allegedly acting as a courier and that Dressen had gone to the airport to give her a folder containing classified data.

Dressen has worked for Estonia's security police for nearly 20 years and most recently dealt with domestic security and extremist groups in the Baltic state.

Estonia is extremely distrustful of its enormous eastern neighbor.