In 2005, a film starring Nicolas Cage, The King of War, was released, about an American immigrant, Yuri, whose family business is to open a restaurant. But by chance, he stepped into the arms business and began his "career" in arms trafficking. Yuri's wit and boldness not only allowed him to successfully capture the heart of the beautiful Eva, but also made him more and more courageous in the underground arms business.
The protagonist of King of War, Yuri Orof, is said to be based in part on Victor Boot
Stills of The King of War
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Victor Bout's birthplace is not accurately available online, but according to UN documents and Bout himself, his birthplace was Dushanbe (now tajikistan), the capital of Tajikistan in the Soviet Union, and his date of birth is most likely January 13, 1967. Having received military training in the Soviet Union, he was favored by the GRU for his excellent linguistic talent, so after serving in the GRU units, he worked at a Russian military base in Vitebsk. His scope of work continued to expand, eventually including the training of special forces of the Russian Air Force.
In 1991 Bout graduated from the prestigious Soviet Military Foreign Language Institute in Moscow, after which he became a Soviet military translator in Angola. In the same year the military base he served at was disbanded by the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Bout and his colleagues found themselves with a talent for languages and special training but nowhere to work. He also saw the large number of weapons that had been abandoned due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and he came up with the idea of selling weapons.
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In 1993, together with his colleagues, he founded Transavia Export Cargo to assist the Belgian army in Somalia. According to Russian sources, considering that he had served in the GRU, the GRU gave him three Antonov transport planes, and in return he would have to pay $5 million a year to the GRU. One of his early clients was the Islamic State of Afghanistan (later known as the Northern Alliance). Between 1992 and 1995, Bout allegedly earned $50 million by supplying supplies to several Afghan armed groups. This helped him grow his own arms empire.
Victor Boot all transport aircraft
In 1995, In order to specialize in arms trafficking, Victor Bout established the Trans Aviation Network Group in Belgium, whose main business was to transport weapons to various embargoed countries. He first established a partnership with the Islamic State of Afghanistan and worked until the Taliban came to power. In 1995, as relations between the Taliban and the United States deteriorated, Victor Butte was found to establish a cooperative relationship, and he has been transporting weapons for the Taliban ever since.
If you have money, you have to spend it. He first bought a mansion in Belgium, but also bought a sports car, someone counted his consumption of up to 40,000 US dollars a week, this is not the end, he also wandered around the world, woke up at home in Belgium in the morning, took a plane, went to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France to eat foie gras, went to New York at noon to accompany his wife and children to shop, went to Las Vegas at night to gamble, enjoyed the pleasure of spending thousands of dollars, late at night, went back to his home to sleep, and then dawned, repeating yesterday's life, how boring.
But the good times are not long, in 1997 a report will be Victor Butte frightened not lightly, the article pointed out that he has been engaged in illegal arms trafficking work, has been to the arms embargo country transport weapons, the report came out, the Belgian police reacted very quickly, immediately arrested Victor Butt, but can not stand the money Ah, directly take money to open the way, hard to escape from the Belgian police net. And came to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Here he set up an office in the UAE and began his illustrious career as a base camp for transporting weapons
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As early as 1995, in order to make higher profits, he began to plan the sale of weapons to war-torn and embargoed areas in Africa, and in the same year, set up Seth Airlines. Located in Equatorial Guinea, Seth Air's main business is to transport weapons to war-torn areas of Africa. Victor Boute did business without looking at religious beliefs, not at government organizations, but at money. Whoever gives more money will transport weapons. He smuggled thousands of semi-automatic rifles, bazookas, other weapons and their ammunition into conflict zones in Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, the Sudan, Eswatini and Uganda. Also supplied weapons to Armenia in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia and is wanted by Azerbaijan. Sometimes U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers also have to trade with him for weapons. Not only that, but he also supplied weapons to terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is the main reason why the United States will find him trouble in the future.
Victorbut's weapons are mainly from Bulgaria, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic conditions of these countries can not support the huge military expenditure, and because of the rampant corruption in the government army, resulting in a large number of outflows of state-owned assets, some soldiers for their own selfishness, illegal sale of military equipment, the most outrageous as long as the money, nuclear weapons can be made.
Of these weapons-buying countries, former Liberian President Charles Taylor is the most "well-known", the prototype of the warlord father and son who traded with Yuri in "The King of War". The blood diamond deal opened by Charles Taylor provided funding for the 9/11 event.
Victor Pot's nicknames, the "Embargo Buster" and the "Merchant of Death," were coined by former British Foreign Secretary Pete Hayne. After reading the 2003 UNITED Nations report on Bout's activities, Hayne said: "Bout was the largest businessman of death, delivering major arms supply and air transport lines, including heavy military equipment, from Eastern Europe — mainly Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine — to Liberia and Angola." The United Nations has exposed Boot as the center of a cobweb of arms dealers, diamond dealers, and other characters who secretly underpin the war. ”
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Since the United States began war in the name of counterterrorism after 9/11, they have targeted the man who supplied al-Qaida, which has put him on the list of America's top criminals and begun to arrest. Under pressure from the United States, the UAE wrote off Victor Butte's company, which greatly affected his business.
But he was very careful in his business, making it very difficult for the police to determine which transport planes and routes he used. He kept moving the addresses of himself and his company, much to the chagrin of the police. In 2002, after unremitting efforts, the US police finally found his criminal record and began to arrest him. But by this time he had returned to life in Russia, and because Russian law had not signed an extradition treaty with the United States, and russia's relations with the United States at that time were not good, Russia also announced Victorbut's acquittal in order to disgust the United States. The United Nations has also frozen his international bank accounts, and he can only operate in Russia.
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In 2008, he was trapped in Thailand under the design of agents of the United States Medicines Administration (FDA). According to Colombian and Spanish sources, his arrest was made possible thanks to information provided by a computer captured during the military operation that killed FARC-number two Raul Reyes. After his arrest, the United States issued Victor Bout with an arrest warrant for arms trafficking to a FARC rebel organization.
He was extradited to the United States in 2010 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2011 for planning attacks on U.S. citizens and providing assistance to terrorist groups announced by the U.S. government. He is now serving a prison sentence in Chicago, USA.
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VictorBut was arrested, but his influence was far from gone, and the weapons he sold were still "exerting their residual heat." Data show that between 1992 and 1995 he sold $50 million worth of weapons to the Taliban, including a large number of AK rifles. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the weapons in the arsenals of its successor countries were stolen on a large scale by people like VictorBut and sold on the black market at extremely cheap prices for profit, which is now one of the driving forces behind the armed conflicts in war-torn areas.
PS：
associated press. Thais May Charge Reputed Arms Dealer (Thailand may sue arms tycoons). New york times. 2008-03-07 [2008-03-08].
Foreign Policy: The Merchant of Death. [2008-05-02].
Tamil Tiger Links with Islamist Terrorist Groups (ties between Tamil Tigers and Islamic terrorist organizations), Counterterrorism Institute, Joint Disciplinary Centre