Not long after Viktor Bout was released from US custody on Thursday in exchange for Brittney Griner’s release from Russia, the Pentagon expressed concerns that the convicted Russian arms dealer could restart his old business.
“I think there is a concern that he would return to doing the same kind of work that he’s done in the past,” a senior defense officials told reporters at a Thursday briefing.
Bout, who has earned the nickname “Merchant of Death,” became a prominent international arms dealer during the 1990s and is believed to have done business — and fueled conflicts — in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Angola, Liberia, Rwanda, and Afghanistan.
A 2008 US sting operation led to his arrest in Thailand, and he was convicted in a Manhattan court three years later of engaging in a plot to kill Americans, conspiring to provide support to a terrorist organization, and assuring that he would supply extremists with anti-aircraft missiles.
Not even halfway through Bout’s 25-year-long sentence — during which the Kremlin repeatedly pushed hard to set him free — the 55-year-old was included in the one-for-one prisoner swap with the WNBA’s Griner, who has spent the last 10 months in Russian captivity. Now, US officials worry the arms dealer could return to fueling deadly conflicts around the world.
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