![Who is Viktor Bout, Russia's 'Merchant of Death' who could be freed in prisoner swap for Brittney Griner?](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/05/Viktor-Bout2.jpg)
Who is Viktor Bout, Russia's 'Merchant of Death' who could be freed in prisoner swap for Brittney Griner?
Fox News
A Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death" could be exchanged for WNBA star Brittney Griner and retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan in a prisoner swap.
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP) Paul Whelan, a retired U.S. Marine accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018, stands inside a defendants' cage as he waits to hear his verdict in Moscow. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) Paul Best is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Paul.best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.
He was nabbed in 2010 in a sting operation at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where he met with Drug Enforcement Administration informants who were posing as officials with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been classified by US officials as a narco-terrorist group.
Prosecutors said that Bout was prepared to provide the group with $20 million worth of "a breathtaking arsenal of weapons — including hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, machine guns and sniper rifles — 10 million rounds of ammunition and five tons of plastic explosives."