Posted on 03/06/2008 6:28:37 AM PST by Clint N. Suhks
BANGKOK, Thailand — A Russian arms dealer accused of breaking U.N. arms embargoes by supplying weapons to African war zones was arrested Thursday in Bangkok, Thai police said.
Viktor Bout was arrested in the heart of the capital city on a warrant issued by a Thai court, said Police Lt. Gen. Pongpat Chayapan, head of the Crime Suppression Bureau. The warrant stemmed from an earlier one issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, he said.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman "congratulated" Thai police for the arrest but could not provide details about the role U.S. officials played in it. Details of the charges against Bout were also not immediately available.
Bout allegedly has been trafficking weapons to Central and West Africa since the early 1990s. United Nations reports say he set up a network of more than 50 aircraft around the world and trade experts have said the illicit diamond trade was likely one source of funds for his smuggled arms shipments.
Although Bout has been investigated by police in several countries, he has never been prosecuted for arms dealing.
A 2005 report by Amnesty International, a Britain-based human rights watchdog, alleged Bout was "the most prominent foreign businessman" involved in trafficking arms to UN-embargoed destinations from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and other countries.
The report also implicated Bout in transferring "very large quantities of arms" from Ukraine that were delivered to Uganda via Tanzania aboard a Greek-registered cargo ship.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Hint:
Russia as a state sells damn near anything to anyone.
IB4T?
Bout is well-connected. Ex-KGB, his planes fly anything for anybody anywhere. He is accused of flying Al-Qaida’s heroin to Europe. His planes have also made hundreds of flights over the years Iraq for the US (at $60,000 a flight). When he was going to be arrested once in the gulf states, the US State Dept. intervened to get him off. He used to base his planes in Gambia (ruled by one of the most corrupt dictatorships in Africa).
He has very curious connections, probably with most of the intelligence agencies in the world, and I would be very surprised if strings are not pulled to get him released very quickly.
Lord of War
(i.e, the movie Lord of War starring Nicholas Cage is loosly based on Viktor)
Bout a millionaire and former KGB major, has based his planes in a number of countries including South Africa, Central African nations, Ostend, Belgium, and Sharjah (where he had a residence) in the UAE, With a fleet of as many as 60 aircraft, he always managed to be one step ahead of the law and Interpol. His preferred dealers were found in Slovakia with its corrupt defense ministry, and Bulgaria, where he was active from 1995-1999.. While he got his start in Angola in 1991, his aircraft would move anything and anybody for anyone. He was involved for years with Al Qaeda (and later with the Taleban), and was claimed to be “in the pocket” of money launderers and diamond traders working for bin Laden. In 1999 the Clinton admin arged Sharjah to shut down Bout’s operation. The UAE claimed it had no evidence of Bout wrongdoing and ignored Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/world/europe/07dealer.html
Russia as a state exports anything to anyone, literally.
While they pretend and put on a show as if they are an intermediary with Iran, it’s Russian firms building the reactor and supplying gas centrifuge’s etc. Because they often go through middle men, the state has little transparency, in the West there is little interest, it goes more or less unmentioned what is going on.
North Korea fly’s MIG29Cs, Iran is receiving SA10s and already has the SA15, Syria recently (2005) received the SA18........ Russia is the absolute bottom feeder in the arms industry and as a state. They export arms to Venezuela, which they know are intended to end up elsewhere, they violate UN arms embargoes and sell GPS jammers to Iraq during the 11 years of sanctions, they export missiles to Iran, knowing they will end up in Hezbollah’s hands....... When everyone else turned their back on India and Pakistan after nuclear tests and their show-down years past, with the EU and US cutting them off in arms deals largely, Russia quickly seized the opportunity and rushed in. From Venezuela to North Korea and everything in between (i.e. Libya, Iran, Sudan, etc) Russia can be counted on by the tin pot regime.
In Russia the arms industry is controlled by the state. High tech weaponry even such as a SA18 is a sensitive and controlled item as is a Stinger in the US. These things don’t move in or out of Russia without knowledge and approval.
Holy Carp!
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