Notorious Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Caught Selling $10 Million In Arms To Houthi Militia

Viktor Bout, the infamous Russian arms dealer, who was released in a high-profile prisoner swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner, has allegedly returned to the illegal arms trade. Bout is now accused of supplying $10 million worth of military-grade weapons to the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist group in Yemen.

Bout, often referred to as the “Merchant of Death,” was previously serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. for conspiracy to sell surface-to-air missiles and armor-piercing rocket launchers to the Colombian insurgent group FARC. His release in December 2022 was part of a controversial exchange for Griner, who had been detained in Russia on drug-related charges.

The U.S. military had been heavily involved in efforts to combat FARC during Bout’s initial arms dealing activities, supporting Plan Colombia, a program aimed at curbing drug cartels and insurgent forces, who represented a direct threat to Colombia’s representative democracy.

Bout’s latest reported arms deal with the Houthi militia, a group entrenched in a long-standing conflict in Yemen—and now targeting Israel and the West—signals his reemergence in the global arms trade.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The 57-year-old, whose life reportedly inspired the 2005 Hollywood movie, “Lord of War,” starring Nicolas Cage, spent decades selling Soviet-made weapons in Africa, South America and the Middle East before being arrested in 2008 in a U.S. law-enforcement sting operation.

Since his release, Bout has joined a pro-Kremlin far-right party and won a seat in a local assembly in 2023, seemingly turning the page on his days as an arms broker. But 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, according to a European security official and other people familiar with the matter.

The potential arms transfers, which have yet to be delivered, stop well short of the sale of Russian antiship or antiair missiles that could pose a significant threat to the U.S. military’s efforts to protect international shipping from the Houthis’ attacks.

The Biden administration has been worried that Russia might provide the Houthis with such advanced weapons to retaliate for Washington’s support of Ukraine, but there is no evidence that those missiles have been sent, or that Bout is involved in such a deal.

The swap that freed Griner from Russian custody was seen as a victory for the Biden administration at the time. However, it sparked criticism due to Bout’s notoriety and the fact that former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who had been detained in Russia on espionage charges, was left behind. Whelan was eventually freed in a subsequent prisoner exchange on Aug. 1, 2024.

Griner, a Phoenix Mercury player, had been convicted of drug smuggling after being caught with vape cartridges containing less than one gram of cannabis oil at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Griner stated she did not intend to bring the cartridges into Russia, where she played for a local team during the WNBA offseason. Cannabis oil, including CBD, is legal in her home state of Arizona.

This latest revelation about Bout’s involvement with the Houthis raises fresh concerns about the consequences of his release and underscores his ongoing role in global arms trafficking.

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