Thai and U.S. Authorities Arrest Russian Alleged Arms Dealer in a Sting Operation

On March 5, 2008, Thai authorities, in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), arrested international arms dealer Viktor Bout, 41 and his associate, Andrew Smulian, for conspiring to sell weapons to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization based in Colombia. On March 6, 2008, charges were unsealed against them in the way of a complaint. Bout is well-known internationally; he was the principal character of the book, Merchant of Death by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun. His career is said to have contributed to the character of the fictional arms trafficker depicted in the Nicolas Cage film, ?Lord of War.?...[more]