All language subtitles for Damian.Lewis-Spy.Wars.S01E07.The.Merchant.of.Death.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE Eng

(dramatic music)

Lewis: On March the 6th
2008, viktor bout,

A former soviet military
intelligence officer

And billionaire protected
by the russian state

Touched down in bangkok.

He was there to shake hands
on a substantial arms deal.

(viktor laughing)

Yet viktor bout's arrival
in thailand marked

The closing stages of
operation relentless.

(cash machine whirring)

(gun clicking)

This is the story of one
of the most audacious sting

Operations ever conducted
during the war on terror.

How a team of undercover
operatives pitted their wits

Against a notorious criminal
known as the merchant of death.

(light dramatic music)

(dramatic music)

(tank rumbling)

In August 1991, a group
of communist hardliners

Had staged a coup
against soviet president

And general secretary,
mikhail gorbachev.

(people applauding)
(speaking foreign language)

But a determined
group of democrats

Had gathered at the
russian parliament.

(people cheering)
and boris yeltsin,

The new president of
the russian soviet

Socialist federal republic,

Was about to have
his finest hour.

(crowd chanting)

This symbolic moment
marked the beginning

Of the end of the u.S.S.R.

On December the 25th,
mikhail gorbachev resigned

And the soviet union collapsed.

At that moment, the rules of
the geopolitical game changed.

(light dramatic music)

Suddenly, there
was a new russia;

Capitalist and chaotic, a
place where money was made.

Those with an entrepreneurial
spirit took advantage

Of the chaos to
seize state assets

And sell them off to
the highest bidder.

Many would become
millionaires, many times over.

One of those men
was viktor bout.

And he would become
one of the most famous

Or infamous russian
businessmen in history.

(dramatic music)

(light dramatic music)

Western intelligence
agencies believe

Viktor bout was born in 1967,
and grew up in tajikistan,

A remote part of
the soviet union.

Much else about bout's
early life seems a mystery.

D. Lewis: Viktor bout has a
very shadowy

Hard to pin down background,

It's like trying to pin
jelly to the ceiling.

Farah: He had different
passports and different names.

He was very good at
covering his tracks.

He didn't make a huge amount
of noise to the outside world.

Lewis: Analysts later
learned that bout attended

The soviet military institute
of foreign languages.

A feeder academy
for the country's

Vast intelligence apparatus.

Farah: Well, he was very
gifted with languages.

He spoke english,
portuguese, russian,

Several of the native
african languages as well.

People would talk about
how fluent he was.

One would assume that
given his language skills

And the places he was based,

He was involved with the
intelligence services.

(dramatic music)

Lewis: In 1987,
as a 20 year old

Graduate of the institute,
bout was sent to africa,

With a group of soviet
military advisors.

Farah: We were not
able to track very well what

He actually did in
angola and mozambique

And what his role was there.

He calls himself an
intelligence officer.

Lewis: Then, in 1991,
when the old communist

System collapsed, bout
found himself without a job.

But as an ex-military
intelligence officer

With language skills
and kremlin contacts,

He was perfectly placed
to make a killing.

(phone ringing)

Farah: He understood
what a market was.

He understood how to access
that market and he understood

How to make money
from that market.

He was a true visionary
in the sense of coming out

Of a system in which capitalism

Had never been rewarded
or was not understood.

D. Lewis: With the collapse
of the soviet union,

Basically, everything
was for sale.

(dramatic music)

Lewis: For an undisclosed
fee, bout acquired a small

Fleet of soviet military
transport aircraft.

Gary busch got to
know viktor bout

Flying freight in south africa.

Busch: Where on earth do
you think a man of 22,

23 years old is gonna get
enough money to buy an airplane?

He didn't get it because
he had the money to invest.

How got it because
the russian government

Gave them to him to use.

Lewis: Setting up a
freight business

In the united arab emirates,
bout got rich quick,

Importing western
goods to moscow.

Within a year, analysts
estimate he was flying

220 tons of cargo into
russia, every day.

But it didn't take
him long to realize

Where the real money was.

(gunshots banging)

Yearsley: Viktor bout was the
go-to guy for arms.

He is the guy that would
supply any weapon system

Pretty much within a limited
timeframe at a certain cost

And could get it in there.

(speaking foreign language)
(gun clicking)

Lewis: The russian
state had a vast supply

Of kalashnikov assault rifles.

Bout knew how to secure them,

And exactly where
he could sell them.

Africa.

(speaking foreign language)
(explosion booming)

Bout had lived in
africa for five years.

As civil wars erupted across
the continent in the 1990s,

He cashed in on the chaos.

(gunshots banging)
(speaking foreign language)

Busch: Bout was very
good at the logistics

Of putting this together.

We worked on different
sides of the street,

Viktor worked for the bad guys,
I worked for the good guys.

Viktor was very capable because
he didn't get flustered.

Lewis: Viktor bout wasn't
supplying just one conflict,

He was importing weapons
to war zones across africa.

His most loyal customers
were former client-states

Of the soviet union; rebels,
warlords and dictators

In sierra leone, the
congo, angola and liberia.

Maltz: His business model was
really straightforward,

Make as much money as I
can and do it at all costs.

Lewis: A multi-millionaire
by the age of 30

With a vast aviation empire,

Bout's business expanded
at a phenomenal rate.

He employed more than 300
people supplying assault rifles,

Ammunition, land
mines and tanks.

Bout's business thrived
because he was prepared

To supply arms to both
sides of the same conflict.

(speaking foreign language)

D. Lewis: In many situations he
was flying weapons

To the government

And also to the rebels.

And both sides would know,
but they had no other person

Who could provide the level
of service that he could.

(rifle clicking)

Lewis: And for clients
without ready cash,

He was happy to barter;

Arms in exchange for
local commodities.

D. Lewis: And often they'd say
to the rebels, for example,

"look, we know you
don't have the cash,

"but we don't want the cash,
we want your diamonds."

And they would arrive
at the bush airstrip,

Deliver their cargo of weaponry,

The cargo of weaponry
would have a certain value

And they'd fly out with
a cargo of diamonds.

Yearsley: There is a certain
amount of ego

That goes with the
job description.

Viktor bout undoubtedly
would've enjoyed the notoriety.

(gunshots banging)
(people yelling)

Lewis: In under five years,

Viktor bout had a devastating
impact across africa.

(gunshots banging)
(speaking foreign language)

In the congo alone,
the brutal civil war

Left an estimated five
million people dead.

More than in any other
conflict since world war ii.

(light dramatic music)

D. Lewis: His impact was,

It was like an earthquake
across the continent.

Yearsley: The costs in human
lives are in the millions.

The supply of
kalashnikov's, rpgs,

Heavy weapons systems was
fundamental to the conflicts

Lasting as long as they did.

Viktor bout brought vast amounts

Of destruction and devastation.

Visiting the amputee
camp in free town,

Interviewing people that
had been brutalized,

That had been forced
to commit murder,

To even kill their own parents,

Really brought home the
horror of the activities

Of people like viktor
bout and the deadly trade

That they plied
throughout africa.

Viktor bout ultimately was

The most successful
illegal arms trader going.

(dramatic music)

Lewis: Secretly, western
intelligence agencies

Had been monitoring the
supply of illegal weapons

And tracking the
man behind them.

Peter hain was the
uk's minister for state

In the foreign and commonwealth
office at the time.

Hain: Almost daily I was seeing
these intelligence reports

About bout and I was
saying to myself,

"what are we gonna
do about this?"

The only thing I can do is to
use parliamentary privilege

As a minister and
name viktor bout.

Lewis: So, on
November the 7th 2000,

In a speech to the
house of commons,

Hain conjured up
a moniker for bout

That resonated around the world.

Upsot: Viktor bout is indeed
the chief sanctions buster

At the present time, a
real merchant of death,

A real merchant of death,
a real merchant of death.

If you can come up with a
phrase that perfectly captures

Something you're
trying to describe,

Then you can make an impact

Lewis: The name stuck.

Farah: Peter hain's
speech was sort of

A fundamental point
in people like myself,

Journalists being able
to write about him.

It gave us legal cover
to be able to name him,

And it gave us a great
little name for him,

The merchant of death
which was very catchy.

Maltz: And then,
all of a sudden,

People in the us
intelligence community,

Other intelligence communities
started really fixating

On who is this viktor bout guy.

(light dramatic music)

Lewis: Former soviet military
intelligence operative,

Viktor bout was
now a major target

Of u.S. And british
intelligence services.

And they would soon discover
that his arms dealing

Had spread into new territory.

One that would eventually
be his undoing.

(dramatic music)

By now, viktor bout's
business dealings

Had made him one
of the world's most

Notorious weapons suppliers.

Fueling brutal conflicts
(people yelling)

And arming african warlords.
(gunshots banging)

And nobody had
tried to stop him.

(dramatic music)

But bout was about to
acquire another client.

One that would place him
firmly in the crosshairs

Of the west's
intelligence agencies.

(cannon booming)
in afghanistan,

The bloody conflict
between the mujahideen

And the soviet
union of the 1980s

Had descended into
a brutal civil war.

Viktor bout had already provided

The afghan government with arms.

And was on the
brink of a new deal,

For the supply of three million
rounds of ak-47 ammunition.

D. Lewis: That was a legitimate
business to be involved in,

He was flying in weaponry
to a, you could argue,

A democratic elected government,

And why should he
not be doing so?

Lewis: But a
little-known islamic group

Had risen to prominence
in the region.

They were called the taliban,

And they wanted
bout's attention.

Farah: The taliban forced viktor
bout's aircraft to land on this

Little dirt airstrip in
the middle of nowhere,

Took the crew hostage and
took three million rounds

Of ammunition for themselves.

Lewis: Bout flew to
afghanistan in person,

To convince the taliban
to release his crew.

He was granted a rare audience

With taliban
leader, mullah omar.

The story goes omar had a
price for freeing bout's crew.

He wanted weapons for his war
against the afghan government.

D. Lewis: Bout
obviously realized,

And perhaps cut a deal,

That there was money to be
made from running weaponry

To both sides of the equation.

Lewis: It was the start
of a lucrative partnership.

In the first few months of 1995,

The taliban took control of much

Of the southern and western
regions of afghanistan,

Likely using weapons
supplied by bout.

At the time, it went
almost unnoticed.

But in 2005, the u.S. Treasury
would reveal that bout

Had made around $50 million
from his deals with the taliban.

Farah: Radical islam is
not really on

Anybody's radar screen.

It was viewed I think generally

As just massive chaos out there.

Lewis: Then,
everything changed.

(dramatic music)
(camera clicking)

Maltz: After 9/11 of course the
u.S. Government recognized

This unbelievable convergence
of crime and terror.

Bush: Our war or
terror begins with al qaeda.

Lewis: U.S.
President george w. Bush,

Named osama bin laden,
leader of al qaeda,

Public enemy number one.

On September the 20th 2001,

The u.S. Launched
its war on terror.

Bush: Every nation,
in every region,

Now has a decision to make.

Either you are with us, or
you are with the terrorists.

(dramatic music)

(speaking foreign language)

Lewis: Within a month
of the terrorist attacks

On the twin towers, the united
states invaded afghanistan.

And it wasn't just the
taliban the u.S. Was hunting.

They also vowed to
bring those responsible

For arming radical
islamic groups to justice.

Maltz: That kind of put
bout in the spotlight,

Because the u.S. Government
was so focused on al qaeda

And the taliban and
actually going after

These people in afghanistan,

And it was pretty apparent
that viktor bout played a role.

Lewis: On February
the 18th 2002,

A red notice was
issued for bout;

A global arrest warrant,

For weapons trafficking
and money laundering.

Farah: I think that when
interpol red notice comes out,

Then it's like uh oh,

I could actually you
know, get arrested.

(light dramatic music)
lewis: But by now, viktor bout

Had retreated to russia.

Former intelligence officer,
vladimir putin was president.

And putin prided
himself on his loyalty

To former intelligence comrades.

He offered bout safe haven.

Farah: The russian
state was saying

That they didn't know
where viktor bout was,

So that showed the level
of complicity the russians

Had decided to take or
the level of defense

They had decided
to put over him.

Lewis: From the
safety of moscow,

Bout surprised
everyone by embarking

On a pr offensive
to clear his name.

D. Lewis: And he took the
pragmatic decision,

That he had nothing to
lose by going public

And trying to win the
public relations battle.

He went out to clear his
name, and to try to say,

Look, I'm just a
supplier of goods

To people who have a need,
that was his argument.

Lewis: But in may
2004, came a tipping point.

(dramatic music)

In the initial chaos following
the u.S. Led coalition's

Invasion of iraq to
overthrow saddam hussein,

The pentagon used
whatever freight companies

Were on the ground, to
deliver military supplies

To their frontline troops.

(helicopter whirring)

One of those companies could
be traced back to viktor bout.

Bout seemed to have pulled
off the ultimate dodge,

To move from hunted
international

Arms dealer to armaments

Delivery man for the u.S.
Department of defense.

D. Lewis: The world's most
wanted arms dealer,

Who was being
hunted by interpol,

Flying in supplies to some
of the most top secret

And secure air bases we had
in any war zone of anywhere.

Lewis: Later, investigators
would reveal that bout

Had made an estimated $60
million from the pentagon,

On top of the 50 million he'd
made from arming the taliban.

The u.S. Government's
embarrassment

Made them all the more

Determined to bring the
merchant of death to justice.

And in the summer of 2007,

They turned to the drug
enforcement agency for help.

Derek maltz was
director of the dea's

Special operations
division at the time.

Maltz: We had a international
bilateral investigative team

At the special operations
division that enabled us

To go after the biggest
and baddest threats

To bring them into america
to face the rule of law.

And we were asked
by the white house,

To go after viktor bout.

We obviously took
it as a challenge.

D. Lewis: They needed a means
to lure viktor bout

Out of moscow and
away from russia,

Away from where he was safe,

To somewhere that he could
be hunted down and arrested.

Lewis: The dea knew only
one thing would tempt bout

To leave the safety of
moscow; a lucrative arms deal.

So they devised a top
secret undercover sting,

Code-named operation relentless.

D. Lewis: The sting idea put
together by the dea,

Was that the team should pose
as if they were guerrillas,

Fighters for the farc, terrorist
organization in columbia.

And the reason they
chose the farc,

Was because it was
known, at the time,

That the farc were
actually seeking to buy

Any number of surface
-to-air missiles.

Lewis: The farc was a
guerrilla army using money

From drug trafficking,
kidnapping and extortion

To fund their war on the
colombian government.

Under u.S. Law, the unauthorized
sale of surface-to-air

Missiles carried an
automatic 25 year jail term.

The aim of operation
relentless was to record bout

Offering to supply them.

(water splashing)

To run the operation
against bout,

Derek maltz chose one of the
dea's leading case agents,

An ex-marine with two decades

Of undercover
experience, wim brown.

Brown: He was a very articulate
and smart individual.

Very calculating, and you
could see why he was very good

At what he did, 'cause
he's a people's person.

Lewis: Brown realized he
would only get close to bout

Through a complex chain
of sources and informants.

Brown: We did our research,
we looked through our

Dea intelligence systems to
see if there was any reference

To viktor bout, and there was.

And we noted that the case
agent there had an individual

That had provided information
specifically about viktor.

Lewis: Brown
contacted this individual,

A confidential source, who
passed on the name of a man

Who became the first
crucial link in the chain.

A man named mike snow, who's
image cannot be revealed.

Brown: Mike snow was a bush
pilot back in the day,

He was a former sas
guy I believe

With the british military,

Very sharp witted,
told it like it is

And told it like it was.

Lewis: Crucially the
dea learned that mike snow

Met viktor bout in south
africa in the '90s,

And the two had remained
in contact ever since.

D. Lewis: Mike snow spoke to
viktor bout in a very blunt

And unafraid tone.

And bout being a russian,
and being from the background

He's from, rather
respected that.

So, they kind of had a mutual
respect for each other.

Lewis: Realizing the
importance of recruiting snow

As an informant,
in September 2007,

Wim brown approached him,
in a neutral location.

Brown: We said "mike, you know,
if you're not interested

"in helping we
totally understand,"

And then the next morning
we met again and mike said

"I already made a
phone call and boris,"

Which was the
nickname for viktor,

"was still involved
in the game."

So, he showed a complete
interest in doing this.

He'd seen what weapons have
done throughout africa.

He knew that viktor had moved
weapons in and out of africa

And I think he felt a need
and responsibility to help.

Lewis: But this was
only the beginning.

They still faced their most
difficult challenge yet.

How to lure viktor bout away

From the protection
of the kremlin.

(dramatic music)

By now, dea investigators
were one month

Into an elaborate
sting operation

To catch notorious arms

Dealer and former
russian military

Intelligence
operative, viktor bout.

Before they could
set the op in motion,

They had to get close to
someone in bout's inner circle.

The dea's informant,
ex-sas pilot, mike snow,

Put forward the name of someone
who was very close to bout.

D. Lewis: If there was one
person in the world,

Kind of outside of russia and
moscow, that bout trusted,

Who wasn't a russian,
it was andrew smulian.

Lewis: A british citizen
raised in south africa,

Andrew smulian helped to
run bout's vast illegal arms

Business in africa in the 1990s.

Bout regarded
smulian as a mentor,

Whom he called babu:
Swahili for grandfather.

D. Lewis: When viktor bout was
running his airlines

Out of south africa flying
everything and anything

All over africa to all
different conflict zones,

Andrew smulian was
his second in command,

Running the business.

Lewis: But
smulian was now broke,

Which made him desperate
and vulnerable.

(dramatic music)

So in November 2007, snow
made contact with smulian,

Telling him there
was a deal to be had.

Smulian took the bait
and agreed to meet snow

And his associates,
face to face.

Now the dea had to move fast.

D. Lewis: They realized
they would have

To put together a team,

With the credentials to make
bout believe that they were

Working in that dark shadowy
world in which he operated.

You know, you use a
thief to catch a thief.

The dea, very pragmatically,

Had taken any number
of individuals

Who had been former
drugs dealers,

Or arms dealers and
cut deals with them.

Brown: You may call them
spies or whatever.

We use them to go in and
infiltrate into organizations.

They could do things
that agents can't do.

We can put 'em in to
high risk situations.

It's their choice.

Lewis: Brown pinpointed
the perfect undercover

Operative to play the role of
a weapons buyer for the farc.

A man the dea codenamed carlos.

D. Lewis: Carlos became known
as the king of sting,

The go-to guy if you
wanted someone to walk

Into the fire posing
as an arms dealer,

Or drugs dealer, or a terrorist,

And convince the bad guy that
he was actually for real.

Lewis: Carlos had served
in guatemalan military

Intelligence before becoming
embroiled in drug trafficking.

But he decided to switch sides.

Brown: He went to dea in
guatemala and just said,

"listen, this is what
I've been involved in

"and I wanna get out of it."

We created a relationship
over the years,

And phenomenal hard
worker who really

Did it for the right reasons.

(birds chirping)

Lewis: In January 2008,
carlos was sent by the dea

To meet with andrew
smulian for the first time,

At a restaurant on
the island of curacao,

Off the venezuelan coast.
(muffled talking)

Brown: It was to
introduce carlos

To andrew smulian to
sell this,

To say, "look it, these
guys are for real."

Lewis: Carlos
agreed to be interviewed

For this documentary, but his
identity remains protected,

So you will hear his voice,
but not see his face.

Lewis: Carlos' mission
was to persuade andrew smulian

To arrange a face
to face meeting

With viktor bout himself,
outside of russia.

(glasses clinking)

(phone beeping)

Brown: Andrew got on the
phone immediately

To viktor bout, that he had
something very important

To tell him and that
this was a great deal.

Lewis: For 11 days,
carlos and the dea

Heard nothing back from bout.

Then, smulian made contact.

He confirmed that
bout would agree

To a face to face
meeting with carlos.

The two sides arranged
to meet in romania,

A former soviet bloc state,

Where the dea believed
bout would feel safe.

What he didn't know
was that romania

Was the perfect
place for the dea

To conduct an undercover sting.

(light dramatic music)

Brown: We thought that we
can get viktor bout

To come into romania that
would solve all our problems.

Their extradition process
was very efficient and short.

And if we were able to
arrest viktor in romania,

We knew that the process was
a maximum of roughly 45 days.

Lewis: The operation
relentless team

Flew to bucharest, set up
a surveillance station,

And waited for
viktor bout's arrival

But almost immediately,
a problem emerged.

Brown: Viktor said there's a
problem for me to go to romania.

Lewis: Russian citizens
need a visa to enter romania

And bout had an interpol
arrest warrant to his name.

Brown: Days were going past
where viktor was trying

To get his visa to come in.

Viktor was on the phone
with andrew discussing

His problems about
getting a visa,

And for us that was our
tipping point to say,

It's possible that this
case is going down.

Lewis: Carlos
knew at this point,

A genuine illegal arms
buyer would play hard ball.

So he pretended to run out of
patience, and pulled the plug.

Brown: So, we had to
regroup and say,

"okay we're pulling
outta romania,

"we're gonna pull
outta this deal."

Lewis: Now, they'd
have to sit and wait

To see if bout would try
to resurrect the deal.

(dramatic music)

Just six days later,

Bout sent an email directly to
carlos's undercover account.

Brown: When we got the email, to
me it was like a home run,

It was like this is insane
that viktor bout actually

Sent an email back
to the source.

The agents were like,

"I can't believe that
this guy actually used

"his real name to open
up a g-mail account."

I think he believed
that he was untouchable.

Lewis: Soon after,
viktor bout called carlos

To set up another meeting,

In a location that didn't
require a visa; bangkok.

This is a recording
of that conversation,

In spanish, taped by carlos.

(phone beeping)

(speaking foreign language)

Lewis: The meeting was
to be in a bangkok hotel,

In just a few days time.

Maltz: The dea went
over the thailand,

And my agents went over there,

They formed an
unbelievable powerful team

With the guys on the
ground and made sure

That the thai police
had all the information.

Lewis: Bout, it seemed,

Was looking forward
to leaving moscow.

Brown: He had been sanctioned
and he had been sitting

In mother russia for a long time

And he wanted to get
out and play I think.

Lewis: Shortly after
10:00 a.M. On March the 6th,

The world's most notorious
arms dealer touched down

At bangkok
international airport.

He was being watched from
the moment he landed.

Maltz: They had to do very
covert type of surveillance.

They had somebody
in a toll booth,

They had another guy
on the side of the road

Making like his car
was like broken down.

We were so close, we didn't
want viktor bout to get away.

Lewis: Bout headed
to the hotel where carlos

And his dea team were waiting.

Lewis: The dea had
stationed personnel

Throughout the hotel,
and converted a room

On the 20th floor
into a command center.

The thai police placed
an armed unit on standby.

Brown: We had carlos in place,
I said okay it's game time,

Let's make it happen.

(dramatic music)

Lewis: At just after 11:30,

Viktor bout walked
into the hotel lobby.

He believed he was
about to shake hands

On a massive arms deal.

(suspenseful music)
this was it.

It was make or break time
for one of the biggest

Stings in the dea's history.

(dramatic music)

To build a watertight
case against

Notorious arms
dealer viktor bout,

Dea undercover operative
carlos, had a clear objective.

To record, via the
wire he was wearing,

Evidence which could be
placed before a us court.

Maltz: He was very proud in the
hotel room to mention how

The u.S. Is an enemy
of his as well,

So he was very happy to
know that these weapons

Were gonna take out
helicopters of u.S. Pilots.

Lewis: Bout was
recorded offering to supply

Carlos with a staggering
array of weapons.

Maltz: We're talking
about 5,000 ak-47s,

We're talking about russian
like gun and rifle parts,

We're talking about
unmanned aircraft,

We're talking about manpads,

We're talking about three
million rounds of ammunition.

This was a big deal.

$20 million, 15, $20 million.

Lewis: But
carlos needed bout

To offer something specific.

One of the list of armaments
strictly prohibited

From international
trading or exchange.

Brown: The sale of
surface-to-air missiles

Is a 25 year minimum

Mandatory sentence
all in its own.

So, it was important
for viktor to say

I'm providing surface
-to-air missiles.

Lewis: At the meeting,
bout claimed he could

Supply around 700 missiles,

At a cost in excess
of $120,000, each.

Bout: 15 to $20 million
to start off.

Lewis: Bout even
boasted to carlos

Of his close links to
the russian government.

Brown: He talked about
getting ministers

To sign off on paperwork.

What does a minister have to
do with signing paperwork?

Lewis: Recorded
through his wire,

Carlos now had all the
evidence the dea needed.

It was time to take bout down.

But when carlos gave
the pre-agreed signal

To the listening
agents to move in,

(speaking foreign language)
a phone call,

There was immediately a problem.

Brown: We knew that they went up
to reserve conference room

On the 27th floor.

We just had no idea
what room it was.

So it was a moment of
like, where are these guys?

Do we have the right floor,
are we in the right area?

(dramatic music)

Lewis: Carlos
played for time.

Brown: Everybody was concerned.

Did we lose this, had
they changed their mind,

Are we up too late, are we
there too late or whatever?

(dramatic music)

Man: That's it, let's go.
(dramatic music)

Man 1: Hands up, hands up!

(dramatic music)

Lewis: So convinced was bout
that the weapons deal

Was genuine,

He hadn't even bothered
to arm himself.

Bout was taken into
custody by the thai police.

After almost two decades of
global weapons trafficking,

The man known as the merchant
of death came face to face

With the dea team dedicated
to bringing him to justice.

Brown: The agents and
myself said okay,

Viktor just so you're
aware the individuals

That you've been meeting with,

That andrew's been meeting
with over the last three months

Are all sources
that work for dea.

All of it's been recorded.

And viktor looked matter
of fact and he said,

"I guess you hold
all the cards."

And it was a moment of okay,
viktor knew that he was done.

Lewis: Now the dea
had one final challenge.

Getting bout back to the
united states to face charges.

(speaking foreign language)

And that's when viktor
bout's powerful friends

In the kremlin stepped in.

And the one-time
intelligence agent

Became a pawn in
a bigger battle.

Maltz: It was like a
power struggle

Going on between the thais,

The russians, the united states.

And, of course, it
became very political.

Hain: It was outrageous
that they were

Blocking his extradition

When it was absolutely
clear cut that this guy

Was a murderous applier
and trader in blood.

Maltz: I guess their biggest
fear is viktor bout

Potentially
cooperating in america.

What could this guy disclose
to save his own butt?

Lewis: Sources
told the dea of bout's

Clandestine meetings
in the prison,

With undisclosed
russian officials.

Brown: This was clearly not
the consulate visit,

This was much higher and
this was at I believe

At high levels within
the russian government.

And I think they were doing
everything in their mind,

To protect him but also
to protect themselves.

Lewis: For more
than two years,

Russian and american authorities
fought over bout's fate.

All the while, viktor
bout revealed nothing.

Brown: We tried to get viktor
to cooperate at the time.

It was more entrenched
in him not to cooperate,

Especially with
the united states

Because of the cold war
for all those years.

Lewis: Finally, in
2010, the thai authorities

Agreed to bout's
extradition to the u.S..

On November the 15th,

A team of dea agents
arrived in bangkok.

The following day, so
concerned there could

Be interference from
russian interests,

The dea gave him
bulletproof clothing

To wear on his way
to the airport.

Brown: We got viktor
successfully onto the plane.

And I remember viktor sitting
in there in the corner,

And he had earphones on,
and listening to music.

(muffled talking)

You got the guy out of thailand,

You fought through this
extradition process,

You got him on the plane,
now he's on the turf

Of the united states,
that was a great feeling.

Lewis: In court in new york,

Bout faced four
terrorism offenses,

Including conspiring
to kill americans

And conspiring to sell
surface-to-air missiles.

His old friend and business
associate andrew smulian

Testified against him, in
exchange for a lighter sentence,

And the hope of a place on a
witness protection program.

Throughout, bout
remained silent.

D. Lewis: He didn't say a word
in his defense at trial,

He didn't call a single witness.

And you have to
ask yourself, why?

That would have risked
revealing some of the secrets

Of the russian state, which
viktor bout and his compatriots

Knew that they were not
at liberty to reveal.

Because if you do that, if
you do step out of line,

As far as moscow's concerned,

You have no route
back to russia ever.

Lewis: On
April the 5th 2012,

Viktor bout was sentenced
to 25 years in prison.

Guilty of the illegal
supply of arms

To enemies of the united states.

It was the final act in one
of the most successful sting

Operations in recent american
intelligence history.

Maltz: The dea and our
counterparts around the world

Were successful
in taking him off

The playing field and
putting him in a can.

Brown: I had seen some of the
destruction that was involved

With the weapons
that he provided.

So, for me it was a
great satisfaction

To know that a guy like
that was behind bars.

Hain: This was a man, the
merchant of death,

Who needed to be put behind bars

And needed to be made an
example of for others.

Lewis: Today,
viktor bout resides

In the united states
penitentiary

In marion, illinois.

He is not eligible for
release until January 2030,

And is yet to reveal anything
to the american authorities

About his kremlin backers.

D. Lewis: Like a classic russian
intelligence agent,

Like a classic spy, viktor
bout went to his jail cell

Defiantly and in silence.

Lewis: The russian foreign
ministry vowed it will make

All necessary efforts
to return viktor bout

To the motherland, at the
first available opportunity.

(dramatic music)