Viktor Bout, 55, one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, was released from US custody on Thursday after a prisoner swap with 32-year-old Brittney Griner. The well-known American basketball player has been in custody since February after Moscow airport officials found cannabis oil in her luggage when she returned to the US after a game in Russia. But who is the man known as the “dealer of death”?
Before he was caught in 2008, he was one of the world’s most wanted men and was known for his ability to evade arms embargoes. For nearly two decades, the Tajiks supplied weapons to rogue states, rebel groups and warlords. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are said to be among his clients.
Language skills used to build his weapons empire
His fame was so great that his life served as the inspiration for a Hollywood movie. “Lord of War – Dealer of Death” was released in 2005. Nicholas Cage (58) plays the role of Yuri Orlov in it. The character is loosely based on But.
Despite his fame, little is known about But’s origins. Biographies generally agree that he was born in 1967 in the Tajik city of Dushanbe, near the border with Afghanistan. But served as a military translator in Angola, among others. A gifted linguist, he is said to have used his alleged knowledge of English, French, Portuguese, Arabic and Persian to build his international arms empire.
One of the most wanted men in the world
But benefited from the collapse of the Soviet Union. He sold discarded weapons from the Soviet army in conflict zones in Africa and Asia. According to a book by security experts Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, he used about 60 old Soviet military planes to distribute his goods.
To avoid getting caught, he intertwined his arms business with an innocent logistics company and always claimed to be a serious entrepreneur. However, reports of a shady Russian citizen trading arms in Africa prompted the CIA to act. At the turn of the millennium, But was one of the most wanted men in the world. However, he was only arrested after an extensive chase in several countries in 2008.
Long prison sentences in the US
In a spectacular sting operation, But was caught on camera agreeing to sell US undercover agents posing as representatives of left-wing Colombian FARC guerrillas 100 surface-to-air missiles, which they could use to launch US troops. Soon after, he was arrested by Thai police in Bangkok.
What followed was a good two-year diplomatic battle, during which Russia insisted on Buot’s innocence. But eventually he was extradited to the US and charged there. In 2012, a New York court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The charges include conspiracy to support terrorists, conspiracy to kill Americans and money laundering.
Now Russia has it back. Bout landed late Thursday evening at Vnukovo airport in Moscow, where he was received by his family, according to Russian state television.