A Russian arms dealer known as the “Putin’s merchant of death” is back into business after he was released by the US two years ago.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Viktor Bout has reportedly sold weapons to terrorist organizations and other outlaw groups in Yemen & Africa under the watch of Russian President Vladamir Putin.
He was arrested in Thailand in 2010 and was convicted of terrorism financing in 2012 for arming terrorist groups.
Putin’s Merchant of Death
The groups that Bout dealt with included the Yemen-based Houthis, Al-Qaeda and non-state terrorist groups in Africa, according to the WSJ report.
He was present when representatives of Yemen’s Houthi movement visited Moscow in August to negotiate the purchase of $10 million worth of automatic weapons.
The report didn’t shed light on the specifics of the dealing or whether Bout was involved in arming ISIS or Hamas in the Middle East.
