Gunrunners

"Despite being pursued for years by a flinty group of private and government arms investigators, a positive visual ID of this United Arab Emirates-based arms merchant only became available when two Belgian journalists ran into him at an airstrip in remote rebel-held Congo. And it was only recently that his name became familiar in the United States, following press reports of his role in arming the Taliban regime in Afghanistan five years ago. If not for this link to Afghanistan, it is probable that Bout would still be a low-profile character in the clandestine world of illicit arms trading."

VICTOR BOUT

FACT SHEET
BORN:
1967, Dushanbe, U.S.S.R. (now Tajikistan); an ethnic Russian.
PASSPORTS:
At least five, two of which are Russian and one Ukrainian.
ALIASES:
Often referred to in law enforcement circles as "Victor B.," as he is thought to have at least five aliases: Butt, Butov, Badd, Bulakin and others.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, Moscow.
PREVIOUS CAREER:
Until 1991, served as an interpreter in a now-disbanded military transport aviation regiment in Vitsebsk (now Belarus). Translated for U.N. peacekeeping force in Angola, 1987. Left the military as a lieutenant.
LANGUAGES:
Russian (native), Farsi (Persian, also the language of Tajikistan), English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Xhosa, Zulu.
MOST RECENTLY:
Last seen at liberty in Moscow in March, 2002.
CRIMINAL RECORD:
June 2000: Charged with forging documents in the Central African Republic and convicted in absentia. Charges were later dropped; no explanation was given.
February 2002: Belgium issued an arrest warrant for Bout on money laundering charges.