Victor Bout: “Merchant of death” in relations between Thailand, the United States and Russia

Victor Bout is one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers. He had been imprisoned in Thailand. before being extradited to the United States

Recently, he’s been in the news again. after the US government released him in exchange for the famous American basketball player Britney Greiner, who was imprisoned by Russia.

Ms Greiner has been in custody since February after Moscow airport officials said cannabis oil was found in her luggage. As she was about to board a plane back to the US After finishing the race in Russia

Rumors have circulated for months, according to US media reports, that senior State Department officials are trying to negotiate for Russia to release Miss Greiner in exchange for Bout’s freedom.

This former Soviet Air Force officer. He creates many heroic deeds Until he was inspired to be a Hollywood movie which made him even more famous as well as aka “Death Merchant”

Thai authorities turned over Boots to the United States in 2010 following a 2008 mule operation by the United States Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Many Thai media cited the Thai police reports. The details of the baiting operation said Former South African intelligence officer working for the DEA The mule purchased a large quantity of weapons from Booth, including 100 air-to-air missiles, 20,000 AK-47s, 20,000 hand grenades, 740 mortars, 2,350 sniper rifles and 5 tons of C4 bombs and another 10 million rounds of ammunition. , pretending to be given to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces or FARC.

Shortly thereafter the two sides discussed carrying weapons. Boot traveled to Thailand. and was arrested by Thai authorities before being sent to prosecute in the United States amid protests from Russia

Bout claims he is just a businessman entering the international shipping business legally. And he was a victim of the US government. He accused him of trying to arm rebels in Colombia.

Sure, the jury in the U.S. Not believing his story, he commented in April 2011 that he was guilty of conspiring to kill Americans. and US government officials he Including sending anti-aircraft missiles and assisting terrorist organizations and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The judgment in Bout took three weeks to deliberate, prosecutors said. Weapons Booth tried to sell to rebels in Colombia. He will be used to kill American pilots working for the Colombian government.

Bout is a Russian born in Tajikistan. in the soviet union he He began his career in the aviation industry in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In the book The Merchant of Death (2007), by security experts Douglas Farah and Stephen Bron, Bout built his business on abandoned military aircraft. After the collapse of the Soviet Union

Bout uses army planes like Antonov and Ilyushin with their crews to transport cargo around the world. It also sells aircraft and crews to those interested in buying them.

when the U.S. court Bout’s guilt was convicted, she was 45 years old.

He began transporting weapons of war through the front company. in different battlefields in various locations in Africa

The United Nations has identified Bout as a close associate of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was charged with war crimes in 2012 for his involvement in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

“He was a businessman, a trader and a transporter of weapons and minerals, he also supported the regime of former President Taylor. to undermine the peace in Sierra Leone and exploit access to diamonds,” the UN document says.

Middle Eastern media reported that Bout was also an arms dealer for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

not only that The official also believes He was a gunman from both sides fighting the civil war in Angola. and arming leaders of armed groups and governments such as the Central African Republic. Democratic Republic of the Congo, from Sudan to Libya.

Bout gave an interview to Channel Four News in 2009, denying any transactions with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

but admits He transported weapons to Afghanistan in the mid-1990s under the guise of handing them over to military commanders. to fight the Taliban

he also claimed He helped the French government transport goods to Rwanda. after the genocide and also carries the United Nations Peace Corps.

however, he was pursued by law enforcement until the 2000s, when he left Belgium. What is his residence at that time In 2002, after the authorities issued a warrant for his arrest

Bout is believed to have traveled the world under various aliases. she traveling through many countries such as the United Arab Emirates and South Africa before reappearing in Russia in 2003.

In the same year, British Foreign Secretary Peter Hain is the one who gave Booth the nickname “Death Merchants” after reading reports about Booth himself.

“Boot is the leader of the Death Dealer. He is a major sap shipping the aircraft and providing a transportation route for weapons of war… from Eastern Europe. Mainly Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, Liberia and Angola,” Hen said.

“The United Nations exhibited the booth. It is at the center of a network of arms dealers, diamond dealers and other illegal operations that keep the war going.”