While the illegal international arms trade is nothing new, it has suffered some serious setbacks recently. A key player, known for supplying small arms, as well as ordinance and vehicles, was arrested in March 2008 in Thailand by the Royal Thai Police. In August 2010, after months of legal judo and letters back and forth from the Secretary of State and Congress, one of the largest players in the illegal arms trade was extradited to the United States of America to stand trial for conspiracy to supply material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to kill American officers or employees, conspiring to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, illegal purchase of aircraft, wire fraud, and money laundering. This "Merchant of Death" is none other than a citizen of the Soviet Union, Viktor Bout. He was born in Dushanbe, USSR on January 13, 1967. Although it is known that he worked for the Soviet Army as a translator, there are no clear documents indicating what rank he held, some people say he was discharged in 1991 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, but others say he was a major in the GRU (a special division of the Soviet Army that focused on intelligence and special forces). While it is unclear what rank he was discharged from, it is known that Viktor was fluent in six different languages ​​including English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and claimed to have learned several African languages ​​from his time spent in the region. Although he was linguistically gifted, he was also blessed with old Soviet Army contacts that he kept close by and used in his early aeronautical exploits. After Viktor left military service, the Soviet Union was in an opaque… middle of paper. .....08 by the Royal Thai Police in cooperation with political pressure from the CIA. After two years the “Merchant of Death” was extradited to the United States on multiple charges stemming from arms trafficking and cargo transportation activities. It will be interesting to see where his trial goes and how Russia reacts, thanks to its intimate knowledge of their “shadow” state and its immense knowledge of the African warlords who continue to ravage the continent. His trial is scheduled to begin on September 12, 2011. Works Cited • Mark Bromley and Hugh Griffiths, End-User Certificates: Improving Standards to Prevent Diversion • www.wassenaar.org • Noehrenberg, EH (1995). Multilateral Export Controls and International Regime Theory: The Effectiveness of COCOM• (1993) COCOM Lists and Notes, DTI• Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, Merchant of Death, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2007