One of the largest (and most forgotten) plots to infiltrate the FBI and other U.S. Government agencies was perpetrated by The Church of Scientology in the mid-1970's. The operation would send cult founder L. Ron Hubbard into hiding and set off unprecedented raids and legal actions against the well known cult
Scientology as a new religion was founded in the 1950's by L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard had turned his rambling book Dianetics into a huge self help fad, but his "movement" fell into decline fairly quickly. Desperate to revive what had become a lucrative chain of learning centers, Hubbard created "Scientology" a system he hoped would revive interest in Dianetics as well as provide him with a tax-free revenue stream. His gambit was hugely successful; the religion had made him rich beyond even his wildest dreams, but he would encounter much skepticism from outsiders who considered his operations a scam. By the 1970's, Hubbard would choose to go on the offense against the government and those he felt were unfairly targeting him and his church.
Hubbard would create an internal organization that could gather evidence against its perceived enemies and crush anyone standing in its way. He entrusted the operations to his wife Mary Sue Hubbard. At first, the organization would play defense, ruthlessly attacking those who targeted the church's predatory practices. By the mid-1970's Mrs. Hubbard decided to go on the offense by infiltrating U.S. Government agencies. Not only would these spies get information about planned raids or undercover investigations, they were expected to identify and destroy negative information about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard.
At its peak, "Operation Snow White" as it was referred to by internal church leaders, would have 5,000 undercover operatives imbedded in various government agencies around the world. Its spying would be focused on the United States, however, with the bulk of these spies holding jobs in agencies like the FDA, IRS and FBI. These agencies were targeted by the Hubbards, who saw them as particularly hostile to their cult. Eventually, the operations would be discovered by the authorities after a bungled classified document copying scheme was uncovered.
The resulting investigations would result in the jailing of numerous top Scientology executives, including Mary Sue Hubbard. Her husband would take the coward's way out, going into hiding and becoming paranoid for the rest of his life. He would eventually pass away, hidden in a secret Scientology compound. The church he founded would continue, wiping all references to the infiltration from its internal documents.
