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Originally Posted by BishopMVP
I think people overhype Bout's impact. He was a frontman for and a face to put to something happening, but ex-Soviet weapons were probably still flowing out of the country at the same rate after he was out of the game. If you look at his actual arrest it was borderline entrapment to get him to come out of semi-retirement and help broker a deal. Even the judge who convicted him came out and said she didn't think his sentence should be that law but it was a mandatory minimum.
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I think below article shows he was a very dangerous person when he was captured. I do hope he is happy with retirement and doesn't get back into the business (I can rationalize the trade then). But then, it bears asking why does Putin want him back if not for his connections and negotiation skills.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/08/w...o%2025%20years.
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U.S. authorities finally caught up with him in Bangkok in 2008. Mr. Bout met with undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents he believed represented rebels from Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC, which the United States considered a terrorist organization until last year.
When the prospective buyers told him the weapons could be used to kill American pilots, Mr. Bout responded, “We have the same enemy,” prosecutors said.
Thai authorities arrested him on the spot. He was extradited to the United States in 2010 and two years later was sentenced to 25 years.
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