Alleged global arms dealer Viktor “Moustache of Death” Bout was extradited to the United States on terrorism charges today. He arrived in New York on a U.S. chartered jet from Thailand, and maintains that he is innocent. The Russian government (and state news agency) says the charges are baseless, and they want Bout back. Neither Princess Toadstool nor Luigi were available for comment.
Photo: Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. A Thai court on Tuesday dismissed charges of money-laundering and wire fraud against Bout. The 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer known as the “Merchant of Death” faces U.S. accusations of trafficking arms since the 1990s to dictators and conflict zones in Africa, South America and the Middle East .
(REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang)
More coverage: Wired Danger Room, CNN, CSM, NYT, Slate
Update: The Reuters shot in this post was shopped, I can tell by the pixels, and by having seen quite a few shops in my time. Rob Beschizza provides us with the unaltered original, below. Following that, a few additional shots I’ve found, all unaltered.
