Viktor Bout, 41, a Russian whose exploits were the inspiration for a 2005 film about the illicit arms trade, was arrested at the request of the United States at his hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lieutenant-General Pongpat Chayapan, head of the Crime Suppression Bureau, said police executed a warrant from a Thai court, based on a warrant issued in the United States at the request of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).Police Colonel Petcharat Sengchai said Bout was wanted on charges of “procuring weapons and explosives for Colombian rebels” The Farc has been fighting Colombia’s government for more than four decades, and funds itself largely through the cocaine trade and kidnapping for ransom.He said six other people, including another Russian, who were with Bout were also detained for interrogation. Thai police received information from the DEA that Bout and another man came to Thailand in January to do an arms deal with a Latin American rebel group, he added.
