Victor Anatoliyevich Bout is born on January 13, 1967 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Not much is known about his early life but at one point he joined the military and after training began working at a Russian military base in Vitebsk as a navigator. After a few years he expanded his duties and also began training commando troops of the Russian Airforce. In 1991 Bout graduated from Moscow's Military Institute for foreign languages and could speak 6 languages fluently, he now expanded his duties in the military and became a translator for the Russian army in Angola, Africa. But not for long because in that same year, 1991, the military base where Bout was working was disbanded as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Bout and his fellow officers were out of a job. But not for long, Bout and his associates were well trained, had acces to all the equipment they needed and more importantly had all the international contacts. And so it was that Bout started Transavia Export Cargo company which in 1993 helped supply the Belgian peace keeping forces in Somalia, Africa. But that wasn't the only work Bout's company did. Once his company had been set up Bout had made contacts with an Afghani group called the Northern Alliance and was selling them large amounts of weapons. From 1992 untill 1995 Bout supplied several Afghani groups with tons of amunition and weapons. With the money he made from these deals, allegedly $50 million dollars, Bout expanded his empire.
In March of 1995 Bout started a company in the Belgian city Oostende (Ostend), the company was named Trans Aviation Network Group. The company had a dificult start when their main customer, the Afghani Northern Alliance, was pushed out of power by the Taliban. In May of 1995 a plane filled with weapons and ammunition destined for the Northern Alliance was intercepted in Afghanistan by the Taliban. The crew was held captive untill 16th of August, 1996 when they managed to escape. Not long after Bout had a new customer, the Taliban. It wasn't his first contact with the Taliban he had sold them weapons before but not in the large shipments he sent them now. Business was good. Bout enjoyed his life, in Ostend, Belgium he bought a mansion and had several expensive cars. In Moscow he bought an apartment in one of the more exclusive neighborhoods. But life in Belgium didn't stay sweet for long, in 1997 Belgian newspapers published reports about Bout's shady operation and when Belgian authorities started looking into his business Bout moved to the United Arab Emirates.
His United Arab Emirates company was also founded in 1995 and, based first in Sharjah and later in 2001 in Ajman, would be his main base of operations. The U.A.E. was a perfect place for a man like Bout, it was a major financial center and a cross road for East and West trade and with it's bank secrecy laws and free trade zones it was paradise on earth for any arms dealer. From his base in Sharjah Bout ran his empire which also by 1995 included Africa. In 1995 Bout founded Air Cess in Liberia, this would mean the beginning of Bout's grip on weapons supplying in Africa. Bout didn't care who he supplied with weapons or for what cause as long as people he supplied paid the dollars. U.S. and U.N. officials say Bout airlifted 1000s upon 1000s of assault rifles, grenade and missile launchers and millions of ammunition rounds into Africa. Clients of Bout's companies include Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland and Uganda. You could almost say that without Bout there would be peace in Africa. Most of the weapons that arrived in Africa came from Bulgaria where Bout had made frequent trips between 1995 and 2000. In 2000 Bout was seen visiting 6 weapons factories there. Between July 1997 and September 1998 Bout organized 38 flights with weapons shipments worth an estimated $14 million dollars to African nations. In the summer of 2000 4 of Bout's planes landed in Liberia with weapons on board among the shipments were: helicopters, armored vehicles, anti aircraft guns and automatic rifles. By now ofcourse law enforcement was beginning to understand Bout's place in the world af arms dealing and decided to take him down, something that would be more difficult than thought at first.
By the time the world took notice of Bout he was safely in his home in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. By now Bout had made the political connections and money that made him almost untouchable. And on top of that, the law enforcement units didn't even have any proof. While investigating Bout's empire several of the law enforcement units went crazy. Bout's empire was a maze of people, companies, planes and routes it was impossible to check where and when Bout's planes flew and which planes belonged to him. Bout kept moving himself and his companies around and had nothing registrated in his own name. When they finally had the evidence to charge him Bout was protected by high placed U.A.E. royalty and officials such as Sultan Hamad Said Nassir al Suwaidi, advisor to the ruler of Sharjah, who apparently also co owns one of Bout's companies. The World wanted him bad but when he seemed too far out of reach the interrest to catch him died down as well as the intensity with which he was hunted. But then came September 11, 2001 which changed everyones priorities.
On September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda terrorists attacked New York and the entire free world. Al Qaeda was very close to the extreme muslims of the Afghani Taliban, a group that was supplied with weapons by Bout. And so it was that after September 11 Bout became a top priority for the U.S. Old evidence was pulled from the shelves and new evidence was collected it looked like Bout's time was up. His name was everywhere, in newspapers on television everyone knew of Victor Bout's arms dealing empire. But no one knew where Bout was or how to cath him. By now the U.S. and Interpol were looking everywhere but couldn't find him, the United Arab Emirates were hesitant to cooperate but eventually caved in although one can only guess if they really did. And even if they did Bout was always safe in his homeland Russia where corrupt officials knew how to hide a man like Bout. Russia was asked by the U.S. and Interpol to deliver Bout and at the height of the tension Moscow decided to give a press conference in which they said that Bout wasn't in Russia. It turned out an enormous blunder because at exact the same time as the Moscow press conference Bout was giving his own conference at a Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy in a live interview in which he claimed his innocense and told that he "was just a businessman". Victor Bout is still on the run and still in freedom, the status of his armns dealing empire is unknown at this moment but with all the money and connections he has made in the past Bout doesn't really need to continue that business. At the moment of publishing this profile Bout is still living in freedom and in hiding.
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