Several individuals and companies have been designated for sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department. They have been linked to a former Soviet military officer, major international arms dealer and war profiteer - Viktor Bout. The arms he has sold or brokered has helped fuel conflicts in different parts of the world for years.
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FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
April 26, 2005
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today identified 30 companies and four individuals linked to Viktor Bout, an international arms dealer and war profiteer. Today's action took place pursuant to Executive Order 13348, which targets family members and associates of former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor. Bout himself was designated under the same authority in July 2004 because of his association with Taylor.
Bout runs a network of air cargo companies that are based in various countries in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and the United States. Additionally, Bout controls what is reputed to be the largest private fleet of Soviet-era cargo aircraft in the world.
Shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Bout, a former Soviet air force officer with a gift for languages, was able to acquire surplus or obsolete airplanes which he used to deliver arms and ammunition from old Soviet stockpiles. The high profits he garnered supplying military equipment to rebel groups and sanctioned regimes allowed him to expand his business. Notably, information available to the U.S. Government shows that Bout profited $50 million from supplying the Taliban with military equipment when they ruled Afghanistan.
Today, Bout has the capacity to transport tanks, helicopters and weapons by the tons to virtually any point in the world. The arms he has sold or brokered has helped fuel conflicts and support UN sanctioned regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
It´s about time. Viktor Bout has sold weapons to the Taliban and African dictators and rebel groups for many years. Bout seems to have had some very good connections protecting him from being arrested. Most of the weapons come from "the biggest weapons arsenal in Europe", Tiraspol. Factories in Tiraspol are believed to still produce weapons and nukes are missing from that area too. There are others like Bout, but he is most likely one of the bigger fishes to catch in this network.
Related Links:
usinfo.state.gov
Scotsman.com: Dozens of dirty bombs missing in breakaway region of Moldova
The Washington Times: Hotbed of weapons deals
Daily Record: TARTAN ARMY'S NUKE ALERT
ATS: Tiraspol - Moldova - Mafia in Uniform
These links below I have already posted in the Tiraspol - Moldova - Mafia in Uniform thread on ATS. I think they should be mentioned here too.
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Iraq Government Deal With a 'Merchant of Death' - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com
In an effort to crack down on one of the world's most notorious international criminals, President George W. Bush last summer signed an order barring U.S. citizens from doing business with Russian arms trafficker Victor Bout. But not long afterward, U.S. officials discovered Bout's tentacles were wider than anticipated: for much of this year, NEWSWEEK has learned, a Texas charter firm allegedly controlled by Bout was making repeated flights to Iraq—courtesy of a Pentagon contract allowing it to refuel at U.S. military bases. One reason for the flights, sources say, was that the firm was flying on behalf of Kellogg Brown & Root, the division of Halliburton hired to rebuild Iraq's oilfields.
U.S. officials say Bout—once dubbed a "merchant of death" by a British foreign minister—built an empire in the 1990s flying weapons to the Taliban and African dictators and rebel groups, in violation of international sanctions. Bush's order banning business with Bout, a former Soviet military officer, was for supplying guns to the rogue regime of ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor. "Our ultimate goal is to shut down his network," says Juan Zarate, assistant Treasury secretary.
Lee Wolosky, a former National Security Council official who tracked Bout, says it's "seemingly inexplicable" that the U.S. government could have been "doing business with an international criminal organization."
Viktor Bout Flys On
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Unbelievable as it may seem, Viktor Bout, internationally-wanted fugitive and weapons supplier to the Taliban and al Qaeda, continues to fly for U.S. firms in Iraq, being paid by U.S. taxpayer dollars. So confident is he of whatever protection he seems to have, that he has not even bothered to change the call letters of his aircraft, flying under MCC, the designation of Aerocom. Two flights, MCC 9025 and MCC 9027 are scheduled today and tomorrow into Iraq.
It does not seem to matter that Aerocom lost is Moldovan air operator certificate in August 2004 and, according to international aviation officials, does not appear to have re-registered anyplace else.
And yet, nothing seems to change. Bout's planes are spotted in Iraq, Afghanistan, the DRC, and no one seems to be able to actually DO anything. Ultimately, it is no one's responsibility. So our tax money continues to go to international criminals who, in theory, are barred from taking our money and who supplied airplanes and weapons to a regime bent on destroying us. Interesting, and not a good omen in the fight against terrorism.
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Jet Line lose a Jet
An Ilyushin-76TD belonging to suspected Boutco Jet Line International has crashed into Lake Victoria immediately after take-off from Mwanza. All 8 crew were killed. The aircraft was ER-IBR, serial number 43454623, belonging to Jet Line of Chisinau, but apparently operating as Airline Transport, another suspect outfit from Moldova. Unlike Aerocom and Jet Line, Airline Transport doesn't share an office, but it has flown to Iraq.
Reports have it that the aircraft carried "fish" on its way to Croatia, but then Viktor Bout has frequently claimed that his aircraft carry only "fish and flowers", so frequently that it has reached the status of an aviation joke that an aircraft loaded with "fish" probably contains contraband. (Perhaps the smell of fish transported in tropical heat keeps Customs away.)
Monday, May 02, 2005
Well, it seems as though accused Viktor Bout associate Richard Chichakli was not happy when his house and businesses in and around Richardson, Texas, were raided by law enforcement last week as part of the Treasury Department's OFAC asset freezing order. Seems that Viktor himself and Viktor's brother Sergei, who has taken over the day-to-day operations of the Bout network, called into Chichakli while he was with law enforcement folks, asking what was going on. [---]
His attitude during questioning by law enforcement ranged from outrage to saying he wished he had died fighting the cops when they came in in order to be a hero to his children. Chichakli is not under arrest, only his assets have been taken. The computer forensic work is going quite well, and there is alot that is being learned about the finances of Bout's empire. [---]
An interested reader sent me a nice little Reuters story from April 22 that I had missed, regarding the $293 million contract British mercenary Tim Spicer magically managed to procure to work in Iraq. See earlier blogs for details, but suffice it to say he is a bad, rogue element, joining Viktor Bout in receiving millions of dollars in U.S. tax payer money for shady work. His company is Aegis Defense Services Ltd. [---]
In a sample of 20 records of 125 Iraqis employed by Aegis, six had not been interviewed, 18 had not had police checks and no records existed at all for two of them. [---]
That is great. We hire a bad guy of very questionable reputation, and he doesn't even do the work properly. Very good choice, all the way around!
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