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I am watching The Expanse tv series and have encountered the following dialogue:
- I need to borrow your spy on Tycho Station.
- What for?
- To keep an eye on Fred Johnson. He's over-charging the Mormons for their toilet seats.
- Well, you can't have him.
- Why not?
- It took me five years to sheep-dip him in Johnson's outfit, to steal tech for his competitors.
What does the verb to sheep-dip mean in the context?
https://www.wordnik.com/words/sheep-dip : The practice within the intelligence community of assigning to agents non-intelligence or military jobs in order to disguise their source agency.
Ranchers "dip" livestock in solutions designed to kill parasites and keep them healthy.
Assigning spies common jobs is a process to "wash" them clean and make it easier for them to infiltrate an organization.
