CIA spies drowned on secret mission to track Chinese military with pod disguised as rock in South China Sea

FOUR paramilitary CIA officers drowned while on a secret mission to plant an underwater pod intended to track the Chinese military in the South China Sea, it has emerged.

The men were reportedly caught in a tropical storm while attempting to place the device, which had been disguised to resemble a rock, off the Philippine island of Luzon.

The mission had no officials link to the American government, and was planned so that it would be deniable in the event the group was found and detained.

The group were carrying false papers to back up a story that they had been hired by somebody to take their vessel from Malaysia to Japan.

In the build-up to the mission there was concern that it would be disrupted by Tropical Storm Higos, which had formed over the Pacific Ocean.

Stanek decided to continue with the mission after forecasts suggested that Higos would change its course and would pass through the area where the mission was to take place.

The CIA was also reportedly keen to see the mission succeed because it was hoping to demonstrate there was still good reason for its maritime branch to exist alongside the intelligence-gathering arms of the US navy.

But Storm Higos did not change its path, and brought winds of up to 45mph to the region.

A tracker on the team's vessel showed its path meet that of the storm before disappearing.

Speaking to Yahoo, a former officer said that no trace of the team of their vessel was ever found, “not even a floating life jacket”.

The deaths of the men were not confirmed to their families until a number of months after the incident.

The families later attended a ceremony at the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia to see stars added to the agency's Memorial Wall in the men's honour.