lord of war - Blog - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-28T20:51:46Z
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/feed/tag/lord+of+war
Arms trafficker Victor Bout is back in Moscow after prisoner swap - Real “Lord of War” lives up to movie ending
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/arms-trafficker-victor-bout-is-back-in-moscow-after-prisoner-swap
2022-12-09T16:32:30.000Z
2022-12-09T16:32:30.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906693853?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>It took a while, 12 years to be precise, but the man they call the “Merchant of Death” walked out of a U.S. prison a free man despite having been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. Notorious arms trafficker Victor Bout is currently back in Moscow after being part of a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States.</p>
<p>Russia secured his release from an American prison by exchanging him for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. The WNBA player was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport in February after authorities found she was carrying vaporizer cartridges containing hash oil, which is illegal in Russia. She was sentenced to 9 years and sent to a penal colony last month adding more pressure on U.S. authorities to act.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Meeting at the airport</strong></span></p>
<p>Bout and Griner met briefly at Aby Dhabi airport as the arms dealer and the basketball star left for their respective home countries – which you can see in the video below.</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WSRXwHuIX0Y" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Upon arriving in Moscow, Bout was welcomed by his mother and wife. Speaking to Russian state TV, he said: “I was told in the middle of the night to pack my things. I wasn’t told a thing beforehand.”</p>
<p>The Russian foreign ministry announced Bout’s return as well, stating: “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/real-lord-of-war-back-from-the-shadows-as-pawn-in-international-p" target="_blank"><strong>Real “Lord of War” back from the shadows as pawn in international prisoner swap between US and Russia</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-viktor-bout" target="_blank">Victor Bout</a> is an infamous figure who operated in the shadowy world of illegal arms trafficking. He was caught in an undercover sting operation in by the DEA in Thailand in 2008. DEA agents posed as members of FARC looking to buy millions of dollars' worth of weapons, including 700 to 800 surface-to-air missiles, over 20,000 AK-47 firearms, 10 million rounds of ammunition, five tons of C-4 plastic explosives, "ultralight" airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers, and unmanned aerial vehicles.</p>
<p>The request was no problem for Bout. He had the network in place to fulfil such an elaborate order.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Lord of War”</strong></span></p>
<p>By then his reputation wasn’t just known within the secretive world of gangsters and spies, but in plenty of households as well. He was the inspiration for the 2005 film “Lord of War”, starring Nicholas Cage as weapons trafficker Yuri Orlov, a Russian-American who climbed all the way to the top of the illegal arms trade and was called the “Merchant of Death” by the media.</p>
<p>It all sounds familiar, no?</p>
<p>Well, so does the ending.</p>
<p>Warning, spoilers ahead.</p>
<p>In the film, Orlov is eventually arrested. While sitting in an interrogation room, he is questioned by a gloating agent. Orlov is anything but impressed. He is confident he will be released soon. The reason, he says, is the same as the one behind his arrest. He rubs shoulders with some very evil individuals. “But some of those men,” he adds, “are the enemies of your enemies.”</p>
<p>Orlov points out that the U.S. president is among the premier weapons traffickers in the world, moving more weapons than he ever could. But, he says, “sometimes it’s embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can’t be seen supplying.”</p>
<p>Orlov then walks out of prison and into a limousine after he is handed a suitcase, which presumably is filled with cash.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Powerful friends</strong></span></p>
<p>Bout didn’t walk out of an interrogation room, of course. He spent 12 years at maximum security U.S. prisons. But he was looking at a lot more time. Years more. Time he will now spend in freedom with his loved ones.</p>
<p>He proved too valuable to those in power and as such managed to game the justice system. Something only very few criminals are able to pull off. It exposes his influence, but at the same time the level of corruption as well.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10906692676,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10906692676?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><strong><em>Photo: Victor Bout and Brittney Griner at Abu Dhabi airport.</em> </strong></p>
<p>Operating in the grey world between the underworld and the one above, Bout met a lot of interesting people with a lot of different interests around the globe. They did not want him languishing in a cell.</p>
<p>All that was needed was the right person to make a trade possible. Griner was the unlucky pawn in this game of international chess. This exchange also sets a dangerous precedent: Will others think it is a wise business decision to kidnap U.S. citizens in order to get someone they value released from U.S. custody?</p>
<p>Let’s hope not. Let us hope this is a unique situation. One of those things that only happen in movies.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
Real “Lord of War” back from the shadows as pawn in international prisoner swap between US and Russia
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/real-lord-of-war-back-from-the-shadows-as-pawn-in-international-p
2022-07-28T16:33:45.000Z
2022-07-28T16:33:45.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10688818079?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>To say that Russian crime boss Viktor Bout is a notorious figure is an understatement. Known by the moniker “The Merchant of Death,” he sold arms in every violent hotspot in the world. A U.S. sting operation brought him down and got him a 25-year sentence. Now, he might be looking at freedom as part of a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States.</p>
<p><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-viktor-bout">Bout</a>’s infamy had been building for two decades when U.S. authorities finally caught him in an undercover operation in Thailand in 2008. DEA agents posed as members of FARC looking to buy millions of dollars' worth of weapons, including 700 to 800 surface-to-air missiles, over 20,000 AK-47 firearms, 10 million rounds of ammunition, five tons of C-4 plastic explosives, "ultralight" airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers, and unmanned aerial vehicles.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Lord of War</strong></span></p>
<p>One of the only men on the planet able to fulfil such an expansive order was Bout. His reputation had already reached mythical proportions at that point, his story inspiring the production of a motion picture. The 2005 film Lord of War, starring Nicholas Cage as weapons trafficker Yuri Orlov, portrayed a Russian-American who climbed all the way to the top of the illegal arms trade and was called the merchant of death by the media.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-viktor-bout"><strong>Profile of Russian crime boss Viktor Bout</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>At the time of filming, Bout was still out and about, making deals and living a life of luxury. The movie’s ending was inspired by this fact. In that ending – stop reading if you haven’t seen it – the fictional Yuri Orlov sits in an interrogation room after being arrested by Interpol agent Jack Valentine, played by Ethan Hawke.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10688508662,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10688508662?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="530" /></a><em><strong>Photo: Actor Nicholas Cage as Yuri Orlov in Lord of War.</strong></em></p>
<p>After Valentine is done gloating, Orlov tells him that what is going to happen is that as soon as he steps outside, in the hall, there will be a man that outranks him. We see a man in military uniform with lots of stripes. That man will congratulate him on his fine work. Then, he will tell him that Orlov is to be released.</p>
<p>The reason, Orlov says, is the same as the one behind his arrest. He rubs shoulders with some very evil individuals. “But some of those men,” he adds, “are the enemies of your enemies.”</p>
<p>Orlov points out that the U.S. president is among the premier weapons traffickers in the world, moving more weapons than he ever could. But, he says, “sometimes it’s embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can’t be seen supplying.”</p>
<p><strong><em>Watch the entire scene below:</em></strong></p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VFZ4Rvxhx5w" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Orlov then walks out of prison and into a limousine after he is handed a suitcase, which presumably is filled with cash.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Prisoner swap</strong></span></p>
<p>For a while, it looked like Bout was living up to the movie inspired by his life. Despite going about his business, no one could touch him. Until that bust in 2008 and his subsequent <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/viktor-bout-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison" target="_blank">conviction in 2012</a>. Then, yesterday, CNN broke the news that the United States offered up Viktor Bout for a prisoner swap with Russia.</p>
<p>After Russia invaded Ukraine and tensions rose, WNBA star Brittney Griner found herself sitting in Russia with nowhere to go. A week before the invasion, she had been arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport after authorities found she was carrying vaporizer cartridges containing hash oil, which is illegal in Russia. She pleaded guilty this month, but denied any intent to break the law. She was eventually sentenced to 9 years in prison.</p>
<p>Her case made headlines and pressure on the U.S. and President Joseph Biden increased to organize her release from a Russian jail. Apparently, President Biden believes Bout is the valuable pawn that will help get Griner - as well as Paul Whelan, who has been held by Russia for alleged espionage since 2018 - released.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Viktor Bout's a creep”</strong></span></p>
<p>“The Russian government has frequently floated Bout as the subject of a potential trade for a number of Americans,” <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/27/politics/griner-whelan-biden-offer-viktor-bout-exchange-russia-arms-dealer/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. “Asked at the Aspen Security Forum last week why Moscow is so interested in getting Bout back, CIA Director Bill Burns replied, ‘That's a good question because Viktor Bout's a creep. The Russians over the years have certainly expressed an interest in in you know, Victor Bout's return but those are, as I learned in my old life, very complicated issues in terms of trying to sort through,’ he told CNN, referencing his long tenure as a diplomat.</p>
<p>So far, Bout served 10 years of his 25-year sentence. If he is exchanged for Griner and Whelan, he will have managed to evade justice yet again.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10688862659,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10688862659?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em><strong>Photo: Viktor Bout after his arrest in Thailand.</strong></em></p>
<p>In the end, then, it turned out the central message in that final scene of Lord of War had a ring of truth to it. Namely, that a man like Viktor Bout has value to plenty of powerful people. They would not let him waste away in a cell somewhere.</p>
<p>Now, we wait and see if Bout is picked up at Moscow airport by a black limousine and handed a suitcase filled with cash. Just like in the movies. </p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: Not exactly like the movies, but he is a free man. Full story <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/arms-trafficker-victor-bout-is-back-in-moscow-after-prisoner-swap" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>