agent in place
/ˈeɪdʒənt ɪn ˈpleɪs/
noun
- A spy who is already living and working in a target country before being recruited, so they can gather information without raising suspicion.
- The novel's hero is an agent-in-place who has lived in the city for years.
- The intelligence agency recruited an agent-in-place who worked at the foreign embassy.
- An agent-in-place can be very valuable because they already have access to secret information.