Notorious Arms Dealer Busted in Bangkok

BANGKOK, Thailand, March 6, 2008 — -- One of the world's most notorious arms dealers was arrested today in Bangkok on allegations that he supplied Colombian rebels with arms and explosives, Thai police said.

Russian Viktor Bout was arrested in his hotel room in the capital, Bangkok, on a warrant issued by a Thai court, said Police Lt. Gen. Pongpat Chayapan, head of the Crime Suppression Bureau.

The warrant stemmed from an earlier one issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, he said.

Sources told ABC News that Bout was arrested during negotiations to sell weapons in a sting orchestrated by a DEA special operations unit.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman "congratulated" Thai police for the arrest.

Sources told ABC News that the DEA expects Bout to be turned over to U.S. custody and a DEA news conference is scheduled for later today.

Though Bout was nabbed on drug charges, he was infamous as one of the world's leading arms dealers. The Nicholas Cage character in the movie "Lord of War" was based on Bout.

Police Col. Petcharat Sengchai told reporters that Bout was wanted on charges of "procuring weapons and explosives for Colombian rebels" known as the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia or FARC.

The leftist FARC has been fighting Colombia's government for more than four decades, funds itself largely through the cocaine trade and kidnaps for ransom and political ends.

Bout, a murky figure rarely seen in public, has also been accused of 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 the 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.

U.S. authorities are most interested in Bout for his relationship with the Taliban and al Qaeda during the late 1990s and possibly even later.