CASE 1: AFGHANISTAN 1990s

Bout’s first client was the newly installed Northern Alliance government of Afghanistan, which had previously fought a devastating war against Taliban fighters. Bout travelled frequently to Afghanistan, where he came to know Ahmed Shah Massoud, a notable local politician, warlord and poet, who had been dubbed the Lion of Panjshir. Massoud and Bout bonded over extravagant dinners and a love for hunting, which they would sometimes carry out with sniper rifles shot from one of Massoud’s helicopters. Bout managed to secure a number of profitable arms deals, supplying Massoud with Russian weapons.

He is said to have played both sides of the conflict and over the next few years he reportedly netted an estimated $50m, delivering weapons to the Taliban from his base in Sharjah in the UAE. He also helped the Taliban set-up its own transport network by selling the organisation a fleet of cargo planes in 1998. In the wake of 9/11, Bout’s relationship with the Taliban made him an international pariah, though he has since denied working with them in interviews.[8][9]

CASE 2: BOSNIA

He broke arms sanctions and supplied weapons to Muslim Bosnians who were facing the depredations of Serbian nationalists. The deals were funded by the Third World Relief Agency, a charity with links to Islamic extremists, including Osama Bin Laden. In September 1992, the charity hired an Ilyushin 76 to deliver a substantial cache of arms from Khartoum in Sudan to Maribor, an airport in Slovenia close to Bosnia. Bout owned the plane and was probably involved in the procurement of weapons as well. [10]

CASE 3: ANGOLA

Bout’s first major African client was the Angolan government, which was fighting a civil conflict against rebel group, UNITA. Bout developed a close working relationship with the Angolan military, in particular the country’s air force. Between 1994-1998, he concluded contracts to the value of $325m with the Angolan Air Force, creating a company in Belgium for that specific purpose. However in 1998, the Angolan government discovered that Bout had been supplying UNITA with a range of weapons from Bulgarian arms manufacturers. Bout made 37 flights to UNITA, which had been paid for with blood diamonds. The cargo included millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket launchers, cannons, anti-aircraft guns, mortar bombs and anti-tank rockets. When the Angolan government discovered his duplicity, Bout’s
contracts were cancelled. [11]

CASE 4: LIBERIA

Bout was introduced to arms dealing in Liberia by Sanjivan Ruprah, the former President Charles Taylor’s lieutenant. Ruprah, a Kenyan national, was working with Charles Taylor in sponsoring the Revolutionary United Front’s (RUF) seizure of Sierra Leone. By November 1999, Ruprah had been appointed ‘Global Civil Aviation agent worldwide for the Liberian
Civil Aviation Register’, which in effect made him in charge of Liberia’s aeroplane registry. By 2000, Ruprah was directly involved with Bout in helping to set up front companies in Abidjan to effect arms deals. By this time Bout was undertaking major deliveries to Charles Taylor, using a convoluted system which included a number of different front companies
registered, often fraudently, in a number of different jurisdictions. This not only concealed rockets and ammunitions, but advanced weapons systems which significantly advanced the military capabilities of his clients. According to the UN: ‘The cargo included attack-capable helicopters, spare rotors, anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, armoured vehicles, machine guns
and almost a million rounds of ammunition.’ Acting much like a legal defense contractor, he even provided after sales support in the form of helicopter spares and rotor blades. [12]

CASE 5: US INVASION OF IRAQ

In 2003, shortly after the invasion of Iraq, the US faced a major problem. While it had taken control of a number of key landing strips, conditions remained perilous for civilian contractors. To fill the gap, the US and its contractors turned to a range of air cargo suppliers operating around the world. From 2003 until at least the end of 2005, one of the most
consistent operators was Irbis Air, an international airline owned and controlled by Viktor Bout. Bout is estimated to have earned $60m between 2003-2005, from his Iraq flights. [13]