Viktor Bout: A Romanian connection?

I found this information about Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout at AxisGlobe, and thought it might be fun to use it as a jumping-point for a little investigation. If you've seen the movie "Lord of War", then you already know something about Bout, whom Nicolas Cage portrays. I quote in full from the newsblurb:

David Dastych, a veteran journalist, has been continuing a series of articles in the Canadian Free Press website, describing about the DEA sting operation against Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer, who for 15 years has run guns to African warlords and Islamic militants, and also on some events from the past, involving him. Dastych says his correspondence with former member of Romanian parliament Valentin Vasilescu and an article from the Polish paper Gazeta Polska provide additional disclosures about the illegal weapons trade and Bout’s connections to the Romanian and Polish military intelligence. Vasilescu writes that in 1998, the Romanian authorities made up a fake cigarettes-smuggling case against him. In fact, there were no cigarettes on board Viktor Bout`s airplane IL-76 operating for Air Sofia which were unloaded at the Bucharest-Otopeni Airport. Overnight standing at its military apron was necessary for the Romanian secret services to load Romanian-made anti- aircraft missiles for destination to under UN embargo. Daily Ziua wrote then that weapons under the cover of cigarettes were exported apparently by a company owned by Viktor Bout and Shimon Naor because they had the monopoly on such secret transactions at that time. Connections of Bout and other gun-runners to the Romanian military intelligence seem apparent. Vasilescu testifies that only a few Romanian intelligence agencies covered the import-export firms and were involved in cigarette smuggling on the Bucharest airport and in the free trade zone of Agigea, in the Constanta Sea Port (new and old), to make money for support of the military training of Islamic organizations. In fact, the management of the network of the under-cover firms belonged to Colonel George Dumitrescu, an active duty, high-ranking officer of Anti-terrorist brigade of the SRI (the Romanian Homeland Intelligence Service), which coordinated the activities of the Arab citizens and their Muslim brothers in Romania. His cousin, the ex-personnel head of staff of the Intelligence Academy in the 1990s, was appointed colonel prosecutor of the Military Panel of the Supreme Court. In all operations with cigarettes this network was supported by a general and the head of the Economic Counter Intelligence Division of the SRI. Personnel of the SIE (Foreign Intelligence Agency of Romania) based in the Romanian embassies was responsible for preparing the fake documents necessary for commercial operations of the arms smugglers network. Bout’s planes operated not only from Romania but also from the neighboring Republic of Moldova, according to Dastych.

The comments section in this Times Online article mentions a business link for Bout with the Romanian government in the period from 1996-1999 by the name of Colonel Gigel Bratiloveanu. This Colonel currently works as an economic adviser for the Romanian Embassy in Moscow, so the Romanian government must not be distancing itself from him too much. After all, the Embassy is in Moscow, not Siberia. There is also more about Bratiloveanu in this extended essay by David Dastych.

In the DEA's charges against Bout, which accuse him of supplying weapons to the Colombian FARC group, phone conversations between Bout, Andrew Smulian, and his undercover agents posing as clients suggest that Bout did not want to travel to Romania due to his "high profile" which made it more likely that he be "caught" in Romania . The DEA must have had a plan with the Romanian government to catch him in Bucharest, since all three operatives emphasized the convenience of meeting in Romania. Them in January 2008, DEA undercover operatives met with Smulian in Bucharest "again"-- it seems Smulian, at least, had a Bucharest connection. The Romanian government provided transcripts of these cell phone conversations to US authorities upon request.

Then, in February 2008, the Romanian government intercepted a phone call between Bout and an unidentified party (CC-2) who operates an airline company in Romania. Bout asked CC-2 to help him acquire a Romanian visa; CC-2 discouraged Bout from attempting to come to Romania, saying it would be difficult to get a visa for him. In December 2007, a televised news broadcast in Romania referred to a business relationship between Bout and CC-2. The complaint does not provide information as to the character of CC-2. Could it be Colonel Bratiloveanu?

Or is there another key player/Romanian partner who assisted Bout? Reading through the UAE community blog, there is no mention of Romania until you reach the end of the comments, where you will see an anonymous comment posted this past March:

His Israeli partner-born in Romania, the admiral Shimon Naor a friend of Romanian ex-president Emil Constantinescu, connected Viktor Bout to Arsenal and Romtehnica, companies of Romanian DoDefense. Cigarettes in cargo manifest of Air Sofia aircraft, in fact rifle guns amunitions loaded on board at Bucharest-Otopeni Romanian AFB for a destination under embargo in 1998 ( Sierra Leone ).

Who is Shimon Naor? Or rather, who is Lieutenant Colonel Shimon-Hershkovitz? Ha'aretz brings him up in the context of the Israeili Defense Ministry's bribery scandals:

A case that did worse damage to Israel's image and harmed relations with the United Nations was that of Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Shimon Naor-Hershkovitz, a former manpower officer in the navy who, after his discharge from the Israel Defense Forces, became an arms dealer for several Israeli companies. He was arrested in Rumania in August 1999 on suspicion of selling Rumanian arms, using forged documents (end-user certificates, indicating that the arms were intended for Togo) to the guerrilla forces of Dr. Jonas Savimbi, thus violating the sanctions of the United Nations Security Council against arms sales to Angola.

Naor-Hershkovitz was released following guarantees provided by Israel and returned here, in part thanks to the intervention of then deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh.

In November 2001, a UN investigative committee that was examining the case requested information from Israel regarding Israeli-registered companies owned by Naor-Hershkovitz and his partners.

The Defense Ministry did not bother to assist the UN even though the ministry has a powerful tool at its disposal - the department of the Supervisor of Security at the Defense Ministry (known by its Hebrew acronym, Malmab), which can easily provide such information.

Naor didn't stop there. He was arrested again in 2004 in Jordan on suspicion of smuggling arms to Sudanese rebels. It seems Naor had friends in high places-- his protectors in Israel are evident, but public prosecutor Cristian Bojinca also tried to protect Naor in Romania. So much so that, in 2001, the Romanian Supreme Court of Justice heard his defense following his arrest with Judge Valentino Acatrinei of the Bucharest Court of Appeal. And what happened to Naor with all these friends in high places and guns in low places? Well, in 1999, Naor was arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison by the Romanian courts for his role in illegal arms trade. The Israeli deputy defense minister at the time, Ephraim Sneh, tried to assist Naor, but the Romanians refused to release him. In the end, Naor managed to gain his release on bail and fled to Israel. In Romania he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in absentia, and is considered a fugitive from justice. And guess what? Naor is still believed to be selling arms.

And who are these other folks mentioned by the Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, which serves up quite a detailed look at the holdings and aviation companies owned by Bout and associates in Romania? What is the Flying Dolphin ring? And are these well-connected guys still selling arms, still considered by various governments to be useful potential partners for covert operations? This blog is not the place for an exhaustive answer to this question. But there are certainly more avenues to explore..

• You can read "Vicktor Bout's Last Deal" to learn the story of how Bout was finally busted by the US DEA.
• You can also learn more about the book Merchant of Arms in this interview with author Douglas Farah.
• Explore Bout's connections with the administration of President George Bush, including his role as "useful partner".
• Read the very clear and accurate account of Bout's activities and arrest as related to the Romanian government in the Romanian press, specifically Ziua.
• John C. K. Daly gets specific about Bout's American connection in "The deadly convenience of Victor Bout".