The CIA employs large women’s handbags, like those from the iconic American brand Coach, to carry out covert missions through its operatives and their female assets. Agency technicians prize these bags for their roominess, which allows them to craft false bottoms or other hidden compartments to stash firearms, spy gear, or operational equipment such as wigs.
In her book Wife, Mother, Spy, former CIA officer Ann Elizabeth Butler confirms that tech division colleagues expertly modified her Coach bag. This modification enabled her to carry an Austrian-made Glock pistol in it every day, along with her notebook, wallet, keys, and lunch. The concealed compartment not only let her transport the weapon unnoticed but also quickly access the Glock, which Butler took with her whenever she left the house.
Scrutiny of Butler’s biography and narrative suggests she carried a pistol daily while in Greece from 2008 to 2011. This is a startling revelation, given that Greece is a U.S. ally with a relatively secure environment and a premier global tourist hub. Yet, one must admit that a Coach bag fits seamlessly in Greece, unlikely to draw extra scrutiny; it would simply get lost in a sea of similar purses.
Precisely whom Butler planned to target with her Glock on tourist-crowded Greek streets remains unknown. Nevertheless, it casts a new light on any woman sporting a large designer bag in any city – Athens, Paris, or elsewhere. Is she packing a gun, and might she use it right now? Such weapons carried by CIA agents and spies are not on the books of local authorities. In Butler’s instance, her Glock was almost certainly in Greece illegally.
Coach and other luxury handbag makers may now have some pointed questions for Ann Butler. How will the story she unveiled impact customer trust in their brands? Should sales suffer, they could well be within their rights to sue for damages, arguing that Coach and Glock are fundamentally incompatible.