Three men are set to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London later Monday charged with assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service and foreign interference under national security laws. Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, of Staines-upon-Thames, Matthew Trickett, 37, of Maidenhead, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, of Hackney, London, were arrested earlier this month in a counter-terrorism operation where 11 people were detained in raids across the country, according to the Met Police.
The arrests were made after eight men and a woman were detained by counter-terrorism police officers on May 1 in Yorkshire, 200 miles north of London. The next day, two more men were arrested in Yorkshire and London. All 11 individuals were held on suspicion of offenses under the National Security Act. Seven men and a woman who were not charged were released from custody on Friday.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, reassured the public that there is no wider threat to them despite the concerning offenses. He emphasized that the operation is not linked to a previous counter-terrorism operation that saw two Britons charged with aiding Russian intelligence.
In a separate case, Dylan Earl, 20, from Leicestershire, and Jake Reeves, 22, from London, were charged in connection with a suspected arson attack on a Ukraine-owned warehouse in London in March. Earl, allegedly taking instructions from Russia’s Wagner Group, a designated terror group in Britain, was charged with aggravated arson and preparatory acts endangering public safety. Reeves was charged with aggravated arson and receiving payment from a foreign intelligence service. Earl appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, where a trial date was set for June 2025.