Russian Viktor Bout extradited the U.S. to face terrorism charges

In cooperation with US authorities, Royal Thai Police arrested Viktor BoutViktor Bout in Bangkok, Thailand in 2008. The US wanted him extradited, and while the first attempt failed, a second try was successful. Bout will now face charges in a US court.

The United States won the continous struggle with Moscow for custody of alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout on Tuesday when Thailand extradited him to face terrorism charges in the U.S.

A former Soviet military translator, Viktor Bout made a significant amount of money through his many air transport companies shipping cargo mostly in Africa and the Middle East during the 1990s and early 2000s. Viktor Bout allegedly have facilitated huge arms shipments into various civil wars in Africa with his private air cargo fleets during the 1990s.

The Thai Cabinet approved the extradition Tuesday morning after over two years of legal wrangling. Soon after, Mr. Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, was escorted to a U.S. aircraft and departed Bangkok at around 1:30 p.m. local time. Mr. Bout’s wife, Alla Bout, said in an interview with Russia’s NTV television network that the extradition was “a political decision” that “has no legal basis whatsoever.”

The Obama administration and members of Congress have lobbied Thailand to send Mr. Bout, 43 years old, to the U.S. on charges of using his air-transport business to supply weapons to conflict zones in Africa, the Middle East and South America. Critics have called him the “Merchant of Death” or "sanction buster".

Suspected clients included Liberia’s Charles TaylorCharles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar GadhafiMoammar Gadhafi, the French government, U.N. and U.S. has also allegedly used some of his planes.