Victor Bout: where did he go?

Merchant of Death, the book... Former West African Bureau Chief of the Washington Post, Douglas Farah and Los Angeles Times National Correspondent, Stephen Braun detail how a small circle of U.S. officials and international investigators worked doggedly to shut down Viktor Bout's arms pipelines, only to be trumped by Bout's ingenuity and by their own inability-and, in some cases, unwillingness- to confront the dark side of the new world order.

Published in 2007:

The book ends on a rather desultory note; its last chapter includes this:
"Only the all-too-brief momentum shown by the American and European efforts to curtail Bout's operationin early 2000 and 2001 held out the promise of what might be accomplished if nations were to set aside their provincial interests and join in common efforts against the contraband arms trade. "
The interest in Victor Bout seems to have faded away and the efforts to bring him to justice have been in vain and seem to have ceased.

In my personal interpretation of the book, it became clear to me that while there was a growing sense under the Clinton Administration for a need to fight the threat against an enemy which was not bounded or identified by the borders of a country. But the G W Bush Administration returned to fighting nations and governments in the traditional style. This was probably due to the need to cut losses and focus on what was in the public eye, definitely an attitude of a fighting force considering retreat and failure.
The EU governments cannot make any claim to success in its own version of War on Terrorism, instead all efforts seem to concentrate on simply raising the barriers (ports of entry) and beefing up security. Probably in hope that the Ghosts of Terrorism would pass them by or would be discouraged by a few extra locks on the door, so to speak.

Let me make this clear: my interest never lay with the War on Terrorism (as I would assume many more such characters as V.Bout run their illegal trade, but his short-lived popularity at least brought him a movie, starred even by a Hollywood hotshot) nor was my interest directed at the illegal arms trade. Instead I was fascinated in the ability to move around airplanes, by nature a transport tool that crosses international borders. And continue in the international airline business.
The fact that Bout fooled the American Colossus and had himselves employed and well-payed by them for flights in Iraq, made the world laugh and forget the implications of his business dealings, where morals recede as minute seedlings facing the progressing sand dunes of the Arabian desert.

So where did Victor Bout go? more to the point: where did his planes go? Is IRBIS still around or has he changed names and/or companies and/or countries like he has done so often before..?
In the book he, VB himself, stated he had left the airline business and changed to real estate. Did he?

Irbis Air Company supposedly ceased operations in 2005, but it was rumored operations continued.

Mega Airlines is described on ATDB as founded in 2005, "formed using assets -and possibly management- from Trans Aviation Global Group and Air Bas". Air Bas is a former Victor bout company, so definitely of interest.
Mega Airlines (ICAO identifyer: MGK) would be based in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The fleetlist would include 3 Boeing 727s and 4 Ilyushin IL-18s.
Main area of operation (reportedly): Somalia. Though there actually is a place called 'Mega' in southern Ethiopia.

While the IL18s are all familiar, the 727s are listed as being UN-B2701 & UN-B2703 (resp c/n 22045 & 21584) and, a freighter, UN-B2702 (c/n 21861); the latter has images on Airliners.net with sightings going back to 2004.
Ron Mak sent me the photos of 727 UN-B2702, taken at Istanbul-SAW 27Mar07; he also wrote that loading crew at the aircraft wore jackets with 'IRBIS' on it. (Much the same as the An-12 of ATMA of Kazakhstan I saw in Iceland (2007) and noticed the crew wore 'Vega' -of Bulgaria- jackets!).

From the above updates, the simplest conclusion would be that Air Cess went on to become Air Bas, which became Irbis Air Company and these days operate under yet another identity: Mega Airlines.
It would still be of interest to have a look at the list of SHJ operators mentioned above, since it would be hard to believe SHJ has disappeared from the Bout network. Which airplanes do they operate and have they ever been operated by companies allegedly connected to Viktor Bout?

Please make note that I most emphatically stress I don't wish to point a finger to any airline and implicate them of any illegal activity or wrong-doing. This would rather be an excercise of elimination for anyone pondering the same matter.

I recently looked at the arrivals & departures 02/03/04Jan2008 of Sharjah Int'l Airport and came acros this selection of (to me) unfamiliar names of airlines (I have only listed those operating propellor aircraft or a mix of props & jets):

Since Irbis Air Company was based in Kazakhstan, the companies Asia Continental, ATMA, Eastern Express and Beibars are of interest.
But the many subsidiaries of South Airlines, esspecially the one based in Sharjah are of immediate interest too.
And Click Airways Int'l, so confusingly similar to Iberia's subsidiary Click Air and founded in the same year 2006, arouses my interest too.
Would any of these airlines be operating aircraft at one time thought to be operating for V.Bout or one of his allegedly cooperating airlines. Do any of their aircraft appear at regular interval in African destinations formerly visited by Air Cess, Air Bas and companies as listed on: More airline names connected to Viktor Bout

I mentioned a few companies earlier on this page: Asia Continental, ATMA, Eastern Express, Beibars, South Airlines and Click Airways.
Let us have a closer look at the fleetlist (source: ATDB, feb.2008).

06 mar 08, 1121GMT - The Associated Press RUSSIAN ARMS DEALER LINKED TO EMBARGO BREAKING: ARRESTED IN THAILAND BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ A Russian arms dealer accused of breaking U.N. arms embargoes by supplying weapons to African war zones was arrested Thursday in Bangkok, Thai police said. Police Lt. Gen. Pongpat Chayapan, head of the Crime Suppression Bureau, said Viktor Bout was arrested in the heart of the capital Bangkok on a warrant issued by a Thai court. The warrant came out of an earlier one issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. A U.S. Embassy spokesman «congratulated» the Thai police for the arrest but could not provide details about the role the Americans played in it. Details of the charges against Bout were also not immediately available. Bout allegedly has been trafficking weapons to Central and West Africa since the early 1990s. U.N. reports say he set up a network of more than 50 aircraft around the world and trade experts have said illicit diamond trade was likely one source of funds for his smuggled arms shipments. Although Bout has been investigated by police in several countries, he has never been prosecuted for arms dealing. A 2005 report by Amnesty International, a Britain-based human rights watchdog, alleged that Bout was «the most prominent foreign businessman» involved in trafficking arms to U.N.-embargoed destinations from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and other countries. The report also implicated Bout in transferring «very large quantities of arms» from Ukraine that were delivered to Uganda via Tanzania aboard a Greek-registered cargo ship. In 2003, the U.N. imposed an arms embargo on the provinces of North and South Kivu and the Ituri regions of eastern Congo, and also on groups that were not a part of the 2003 peace agreement for the region. Photo courtesy NY Times.com / Associated Press John Fenzel wrote in his blog (abbreviated) : "Notorious international arms merchant, Victor Bout, was arrested in a luxury hotel in Bangkok after a month's long joint Thai-U.S. DEA sting operation. The U.S. Justice Department says it is now pursuing extradition of Bout from Thailand and plan to charge him with conspiracy to provide weapons to a foreign terrorist organization. The 41-year-old Russian had allegedly been trying to secure a major weapons deal that included the sale of surface-to-air missiles to US agents posing as Colombian FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels. During recorded telephone calls and e-mails, Bout and associate Andrew Smulian agreed to sell the weapons to two underground sources working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who presented themselves as FARC representatives who negotiated with the two arms merchants from November 2007 until February 2008. Smulian is reportedly still being sought by Thai and DEA officials. Lieutenant-General Pongpat Chayapan, head of the Crime Suppression Bureau, said police executed a warrant from a Thai court, based on a warrant issued in the United States at the request of the US DEA. Despite U.S. plans to pursue the extradition of Bout from Thailand, Thai authorities have indicated that they plan to prosecute Bout before he is extradited elsewhere. Perhaps most significant, however, is that Bout was arrested under the apparent direct supervision of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency immediately after Vladimir Putin's departure from the Russian presidency and assumption as Prime Minister. It seems intuitive, therefore--given Bout's strong former KGB/FSB connections in the Kremlin--that the order to arrest Bout was approved in the West Wing by National Security Advisor Steve Hadley with the passive (or active) approval of the President. At the very least, it represents another indirect affront to Putin himself. Thai officials will certainly face enormous pressure from Russian authorities to release Bout to their control, rather than extradite him to the United States. Given Victor Bout's massive cash reserves, his detailed first-hand knowledge of U.S. and Western European corporate corruption, and his extensive contacts at the highest levels of the Kremlin, it would be foolish to discount Victor Bout's ability to arrange his extradition to Moscow, where he would unquestionably be set free." [Personally, I think another fate may be considered for him, when extradited to Russia.. One that would be beneficial to many international parties concerned too... 'case closed'.. -Webmaster]

Updates & comments welcomed.

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