Russian arms dealer nabbed in Thailand

BANGKOK (Thailand)—One of the world’s most notorious arms dealers was arrested Thursday 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.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman “congratulated” Thai police for the arrest but could not provide details about the role U.S. officials played in it.
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, and funds itself largely through the cocaine trade and kidnaps for ransom and political ends.—Agencies