‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout caught

The 'Merchant of Death' is finally behind bars. Viktor Bout, one of the world's most notorious international arms dealers, has been arrested by Thai police in Bangkok for supplying weapons and explosives to Colombia's FARC rebels.

Bout or Butt, Bont, Buttee or Boutov depending on which alias he is using - is thought to be 41 and to come from modern-day Tajikistan. He worked for the KGB and as a translator in Angola before moving to Belgium in 1993. It was there that he started out in the arms trade.

Initially he supplied weaponry to Afghanistan's Northern Alliance government. But when one of his planes was forced down by a Taliban fighter plane in 1995, he used the lengthy negotiations to free the crew as a way of establishing contacts with Taliban leaders. MI6 believe that he went on to make $30m from his trade with them. (Continued below)

This unscrupulous thirst for profit took Bout to every corner of Africa. From Swaziland to Sudan, Bout sold grenade launchers, assault rifles and bullets to whoever could afford them. When that was Liberian president Charles Taylor, now on trial for war crimes, the UN froze his bank accounts. Nicholas Cage's lead character in the 2005 film Lord of War is partially based on his life.

But it wasn't just warlords who needed his ability to get things done. Bout's airline, British Gulf, with its experience of landing in war zones, played a vital role in transporting equipment to American forces in Iraq during the bleakest months of the insurgency.