Viktor Bout: Everything You Need to Know About Arms Dealer Sold to Russia for Brittney Griner Release

• Viktor Bout is a Russian arms dealer.
• He was arrested in 2008.
• He was released in exchange for Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia for drug possession.

Victor’s fight it was returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange deal. Britney Griner Thursday 8 December. President Joe Biden announced the 32-year-old WNBA player would be returning home, and it was reported that the government had traded her freedom in exchange for the 55-year-old arms dealer, according to The Associated Press🇧🇷 The president announced that Brittney was on a plane back to the US after being arrested on drug charges in February.

At a press conference announcing Brittney’s release, Biden failed to mention that the US had secured his freedom by trading Bout. Despite the swap, the president admitted the administration was unable to secure another American. by Paul Whelan liberation of Russia “Unfortunately, for completely illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently from Brittney’s, and while we still can’t secure Paul’s release, we won’t give up. We will not give up,” he said. Find out everything you need to know about the arms dealer here.

Bout is an arms dealer, nicknamed “The Dealer of Death”.

Bout had long been a wanted arms dealer for illegally distributing weapons around the world. It would take surplus weapons for countries in Africa, South America and the Middle East. During his time as a drug dealer, he used different aliases and passports to travel without problems. The UK Foreign Secretary gave him his infamous nickname “The Merchant of Death” in 2003. Peter Hain, from BBC. He was also the subject of a 2007 book titled after his nickname.

He was in the Russian military and started selling weapons illegally in the 1990s.

Bout denied being an arms dealer, and his now-defunct website revealed he was a lieutenant translator in the Soviet Union Army, before he started selling guns. He is believed to have started selling surplus planes to Africa in 1993 after it was suggested that he join “active reserves,” according to the paper. The Economist. He rose to fame after allegedly working with the now doomed warlord. Carlos Taylor arming the revolutionaries.

He was arrested in 2008.

After many years of world travel and arms sales, Bout was arrested in an undercover operation in the United States in 2008. He was lured into the conference room of a Bangkok hotel to negotiate an arms deal with two people who I thought they were from Colombia. group of FARC rebels, but they were US DEA agents. He was arrested and tried in a Thai court and extradited to the United States in 2010.

He was convicted in the United States in 2011.

When Bout was sent to the United States, he was tried for conspiring to kill Americans, as well as conspiring to use an anti-aircraft missile, wire fraud, money laundering, and the illegal purchase of an aircraft. He was found guilty in 2011 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison the following year. Bout denied the crimes on his website. Prosecutors have focused their time on supplying arms to the FARC, according to Cnn. “Viktor Bout was enemy number one in the international arms trade for many years, fueling some of the most violent conflicts in the world,” the federal prosecutor said. preet bharara he said at the time. “He was ultimately brought to justice in a United States court for agreeing to supply a staggering quantity of military-grade weapons to a terrorist organization declared to be dedicated to murdering Americans.”

Bout has been portrayed in movies and television shows.

Bout’s story, as well as descriptions of his arrest, have appeared in various media outlets over the years. the documentary series Damian Lewis: Spy Wars Y Manhunt: kill or capture both have Bout-focused episodes. the 2005 movie military leader was supposedly inspired by Bout. the starring film Nicolas Cage playing an arms dealer who “confronts the morality of his job while being hunted down by an INTERPOL agent,” according to IMDb.

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