Legs Dealers Beware!

Usually I'm not much for these types of news stories (booo-ring), but this story about the notorious arms dealer who was arrested in Bangkok caught my eye--and my imagination.

It's so bizarre to me that there is this whole underworld of crime that is just as complex (if not more so) as any other "industry."

This dude has been involved in supplying weapons, tanks and helicopters to sites of some of the most deadly human rights atrocities in the last decade-plus. For a moment, I thought, how can someone do this with their life. Then I realized he was ex-Russian Air Force. I'm sure they break you pretty well.

Here's a funny excerpt:

Richard A. Chichakli, 49, a friend of Mr. Bout’s who lives in Russia and who has been accused by Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States of being Mr. Bout’s business associate, expressed surprise when he heard of the arrest.

“I didn’t know he was traveling,” Mr. Chichakli said by telephone, and added that Mr. Bout knew he was listed on international watch lists and did not often leave Russia.

Mr. Chichakli also said he was perplexed upon hearing news that the arrest was coordinated in part by the Drug Enforcement Administration. “It’s very strange to me,” he said. “They claim that he’s an arms dealer. Just hearing the name of the D.E.A., it’s surprising.”

Haha, "I didn't know he was traveling." Yes, that's the first thing I thought when I read the news, too.

And, yes, it is surprising to hear the name D.E.A....