"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."
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
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May I?..... THAILAND?
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.
This is a very bad move - there are other ways to solve these kind of problems.
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.