US Seeks Weapons Suspect's Extradition

Yahoo News ^ | March 7, 2008 | Michael Casey

[khnyny]

BANGKOK, Thailand - The U.S. is seeking the extradition of a suspected Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death," but for now he will remain in Thailand, where authorities are investigating if he used the country as a base to negotiate a weapons deal with terrorists, officials said Friday.

Viktor Bout, a 41-year-old whose dealings reportedly inspired a 2005 movie about the illicit arms trade, is accused of running weapons to al-Qaida, the Taliban and parties involved in bloody conflicts across Africa. He was arrested at a Bangkok hotel after a four-month sting operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Thai and U.S. authorities said.

"He is called the 'Merchant of Death' and 'Man of War' for a reason," Thomas Pasquarello, regional director of the DEA, said in Bangkok.

American authorities intend to extradite Bout but the timing still has to be "worked out" between the two nations, Pasquarello said.

Thailand is investigating whether Bout was involved in "procuring weapons for terrorists and conspiring with terrorists," Lt. Gen. Adisorn Nontree said.

Authorities in New York unsealed a criminal complaint Thursday charging that Bout conspired to sell millions of dollars in weapons — including 100 surface-to-air missiles and armor-piercing rockets — to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The U.S. considers the leftist rebels, who have been fighting Colombia's government for more than 40 years, a terror group. Bout and associate Andrew Smulian were charged with "conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization."

The DEA was involved because, according to the criminal complaint, the FARC uses weapons to protect its cocaine trafficking business, which helps to finance its operations.

Thai police Col. Petcharat Sengchai said Smulian was still being sought.

Handcuffed and expressionless, Bout was paraded before journalists at the news conference but refused to...

[khnyny]

A must read. Also from the article:

"In 2005, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a statement saying Bout has the capacity to transport tanks, helicopters and weapons "by the ton" to virtually any point in the world."

[girlangler]

There’s some interesting reading available on this man and his dealings:

FRONTLINE/WORLD . Sierra Leone - Gunrunners . Gallery of ...Victor Bout is the poster boy for a new generation of post Cold War international arms dealers who play a critical role in areas where the weapons trade has ...
www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/bout.html - 47k - Cached - Similar pages

Viktor Bout: From International Outlaw to Valued Partner ...Viktor Vasilevich Bout, one of the world’s most notorious arms merchants with proven links to the Taliban, has become a valued partner of the US as it ...
www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/wanted/2004/1021bout.htm - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

The Trafficker Viktor Bout Lands US Aid for Services Rendered in ...Viktor Bout, former Russian military man converted into arms trafficker specialized in the sale of former Soviet block military stocks to warring countries ...
www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/contract/2004/0518bout.htm - 15k - Cached - Similar pages
More results from www.globalpolicy.org »

[nkycincinnatikid]

May I?..... THAILAND?

[khnyny]

Thanks for the links.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Fascinating story here. The move by the USA may well have been the result of information gained by the Columbian raid against Farc in Ecuador a few days ago. Bout is part of the Kremlim gang and Russia is apparently rushing to get him extradited home from Thailand to protect him. I too was holed up in a five star hotel in downtown Bangkok on Monday, home now though, and I just re read the Tuesday Bangkok Post I took with me on the plane. The incident wasn’t reported there.

[khnyny]

Yep. There are several layers to this story, apparently.

As far as it not being reported in the local press, I have no idea about the journalistic integrity or transparency of the press in Thailand, lol. I suspect it would leave much to be desired. Wild guess.

[expatguy]

So what became of inter-agency communication after 9/11?

This is a very bad move - there are other ways to solve these kind of problems.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[expatguy]

He was set up

[JimSEA]

The Russian Mafia has a major presence in Pattaya and Bangkok which the Thais would just as soon do without. Corruption, however, is so rampant that the mob is usually well protected. This pleases me as well as many Thais concerned about the various crime groups (name your nationality, there is likely something somewhere is Southeast Asia just for you).

[JimSEA]

The Russian Mafia has a major presence in Pattaya and Bangkok which the Thais would just as soon do without. Corruption, however, is so rampant that the mob is usually well protected. This pleases me as well as many Thais concerned about the various crime groups (name your nationality, there is likely something somewhere is Southeast Asia just for you).

[7mmMag@LeftCoast]

How? Who are his contacts?

Moving shipments of weapons that large leaves a money trail and HAS to involve governments, clearing (or paying off) customs, shipping companies, international longshoremen, the works. None of this happens in a vacuum and he sure has hell isn't magic.

[khnyny]

Gee, like I would know...

Ask the Treasury Dept.

I do find it interesting that for such an apparently high roller, this story hasn’t gotten a lot of coverage.

[7mmMag@LeftCoast]

Well if the media isn’t covering the story - then my first instinct is that they are protecting someone on the left or they can’t find any way to connect it to anyone on the right. Most likely both cases apply.