A Chinese man found living in a bunker near Bodø Airport has been expelled from Norway and banned from returning for five years. He had initially been charged with attempting to conduct illegal intelligence activity, but prosecutors dropped the criminal case last week.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet, UDI) issued the expulsion order after concluding that the man had violated immigration rules, according to NRK. Norwegian authorities removed him from the country on Wednesday, 5 August.
Chinese man expelled after immigration violations
The man had entered the Schengen area using a Spanish visa that had expired and had remained beyond the authorised period.
Police also concluded that his extended stay inside the bunker was inconsistent with the purpose stated in his visa application, which identified him as a tourist.
“The Chinese citizen had an expired Schengen visa for Spain and had stayed too long in the Schengen area. The police also consider that an extended stay in the bunker where he was found was not consistent with the stated purpose of tourism,” police said in a press release quoted by NRK.
Authorities revoked his visas at the end of June. Police said the man had also provided incorrect information during questioning about his activities in Norway.
After his release from custody, he was held at the Trandum immigration detention centre near Oslo Airport before being deported.
The espionage investigation was dropped
Norway’s Police Security Service (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste, PST) arrested the man on 15 May 2026. He was later remanded in custody on suspicion of attempting to conduct illegal intelligence activity involving state secrets.
The investigation focused on the time he had spent in an old bunker near the perimeter of Bodø Airport. The site offers views towards the airport, which includes both civilian and military facilities.
At the time of the arrest, PST said it was investigating whether the man had attempted to collect information about the military section of Bodø Air Station. That section includes NATO’s regional Combined Air Operations Centre, known as CAOC.
The man denied criminal responsibility. The case was eventually dismissed, meaning that the authorities did not pursue the original espionage allegation.
His expulsion was therefore based on immigration violations and the information provided to police, rather than on a conviction for intelligence activity.
Bodø remains strategically important
Bodø occupies an important position in Norway’s defence infrastructure and in NATO’s presence in the Nordic region. The city’s airport combines civilian operations with military installations, while the regional air operations centre coordinates and monitors activity across a large part of the alliance’s northern airspace.
PST has repeatedly warned that foreign intelligence services seek information about Norwegian defence capabilities, military facilities and sensitive technology. However, the decision to drop the Bodø case means that no illegal intelligence activity was established through criminal proceedings against the man.
The five-year entry ban closes the immigration case for now, while maintaining a clear distinction between the suspicions that led to his arrest and the administrative violations that ultimately resulted in his expulsion.
