Russian ‘Merchant Of Death,’ Who Biden Released From Prison For WNBA

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(L) Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury at Crypto.com Arena on September 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) / (C) Member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Viktor Bout poses during the opening of an art exhibition in Moscow on March 7, 20213. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) / (R) A Houthi fighter stands near a Lebanese Hezbollah flag and a portrait of the group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah during a rally held in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on October 4, 2024. (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:17 PM – Monday, October 7, 2024

The Wall Street Journal revealed on Sunday that Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer who was imprisoned in the United States and later exchanged for American basketball player Brittney Griner two years prior, is once again involved in the global arms trade.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, using confirmed but unidentified European security officials as well as other sources familiar with the situation, that Bout—dubbed “the merchant of death”—is attempting to mediate the transfer of weaponry to Houthi insurgents in Yemen who are financially backed by Iran.

“When Houthi emissaries went to Moscow in August to negotiate the purchase of $10 million worth of automatic weapons, they encountered a familiar face: the mustachioed Bout,” the article stated.

However, according to the WSJ, there has been no delivery of the arms transfers as of yet.

After returning to Russia following the prisoner swap in December 2022, 57-year-old Bout joined the Kremlin-loyal ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), but he has now kept a very low public profile since.

Bout was one of the world’s most sought-after criminals prior to his 2008 arrest in Thailand on various accusations relating to arms trafficking. After being extradited to the United States, a Manhattan court found him guilty and gave him a 25-year jail sentence in 2012.

Bout was one of the most infamous arms dealers in the world for nearly 20 years, supplying weapons to warlords, rebel organizations, and rogue governments in South America, Asia, and Africa.

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