Freed Russian arms dealer Bout back in weapons business, WSJ reports
Story by Reuters • 12h
(Reuters) - Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer who was jailed in the United States and then swapped two years ago for the U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, is back in international arms trade, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Citing an unnamed European security source and other anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the WSJ wrote that Bout, dubbed "the merchant of death" is trying to broker the sale of small arms to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants.
"When Houthi emissaries went to Moscow in August to negotiate the purchase of $10 million worth of automatic weapons, they encountered a familiar face: the mustachioed Bout," the newspaper reported, citing its sources.
The potential arms transfers are yet to be delivered, the WSJ reported. They stop well short of the sale of Russian anti-ship or anti-air missiles that could pose a significant threat to the U.S. military's efforts to protect international shipping from the Houthis’ attacks, it added.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/freed-russian-arms-dealer-bout-back-in-weapons-business-wsj-reports/ar-AA1rNWpA
