DEA Busts "Merchant of Death"

Another article in this week's Economist tells the life and times of post-Soviet arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed by some the "Merchant of Death."

Turns out an elite undercover unit of the DEA ultimately caught him. The Economist doesn't explain why the DEA was involved — but it turns out that the 9/11 attacks prompted the feds to beef up DEA and redefine its mission to include enforcement of international terror laws, to the extent that a case might have any nexus with illegal drug trafficking. Turns out Bout was running small amounts of drugs on the side.

Hot Stuff at The Economist

PHUTATORIUS
If you aren't already sold on The Economist as the modern periodical industry's Supreme Repository of Insight and Learning, consider its year-end double issue, and specifically, this article about chili peppers.

I love this publication. More than The New Yorker, Q, and The Uncanny X-Men combined.