Police in Thailand have arrested Victor Bout, one of the world’s leading underground arms traffickers. Bout was arrested in a sting operation orchestrated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with secret help from security officials in four other nations. The Russian arms dealer was charged in New York with conspiracy to provide material support to the Colombian rebel group FARC.

US Attorney Michael Garcia: “Today’s arrests mark the culmination of a long-term DEA undercover investigation that spanned the globe, and it marks the end of the reign of one of the world’s most wanted arms traffickers.”

While Bout was arrested for allegedly arming FARC rebels, he has also been accused of supplying weapons to armed groups in Afghanistan, Congo, Liberia, Angola, Sierra Leone and Sudan. He has been nicknamed “the Merchant of Death.” Bout also had ties to the US government. Early in the Iraq war, the US and Pentagon contractors, including KBR, reportedly paid him $60 million to fly hundreds of supply flights to Iraq.