DEA chases arms dealer

Newly obtained documents prepared by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) describe an elaborate sting operation to capture purported weapons trafficker Viktor Bout in Bangkok and America’s current appeal to extradite him to New York.

However, the documents, made public recently, do not confirm that Mr. Bout had access to the weapons or where the arms and ammunition were located.

Mr. Bout, a Russian citizen, has been dubbed the “Merchant of Death” for his long years as a purported international weapons dealer involved in both legal and illegal transfers.

The U.S. indictment says that when Mr. Bout was in Bangkok last year, he “agreed to provide the FARC [Colombian rebels] with millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to be used, among other things, to kill nationals of the United States in Colombia,” including “officers and employees of the United States” on “official duties.”

U.S. Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said in Bangkok last month that he told Thai officials Mr. Bout “stands charged with extremely serious crimes against Americans.”

The case against Mr. Bout appeared to fall apart in August when Bangkok’s Criminal Court dropped all charges against him.

The Thai judge said Bangkok “does not have the authority to punish actions done by foreigners against other foreigners in another country.”

The newly released documents are from America’s appeal, which is winding its way through Thailand’s justice system.

The documents do not deal with the previous judge’s decision about Thai jurisdiction over foreigners and instead focus on efforts to have Mr. Bout extradited to the U.S.

Mr. Bout, 42, was arrested in March 2008 in a Bangkok hotel during a U.S.-led sting operation and remains incarcerated in a Bangkok prison.

He has denied all charges of wrongdoing.

The DEA’s “rebuttal affidavit” and “evidence” were posted online in mid-October by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), a Washington-based group founded in 1945 by scientists who developed the world’s first atomic bombs.

“Documents provided to the Federation of American Scientists, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, provide additional details about the case against alleged arms trafficker Viktor Bout, but many important questions remain — publicly — unanswered,” FAS says on its Web page.

In Washington, the DEA confirmed the authenticity of the documents but declined further comment.

The scientists appeared concerned about sophisticated weapons reportedly mentioned by Mr. Bout and their possible availability on the international black market.

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