Surely you’ve heard about the Biden administration’s proposed prisoner swap to free Brittney Griner (and Paul Whelan). In exchange, we are offering Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer with the rather colorful nickname “The Merchant of Death.”
Well, an alert FrontBurnervian reminded me that Bout has—or had—a connection to Richardson. Does the name Richard Chichakli ring any bells? WhenChichakli was arrested in 2013 in Australia, an official with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency said, “The international law enforcement community has long recognized Richard Chichakli as a key criminal facilitator in Viktor Bout’s global weapons trafficking regime and his arrest means the world is safer and more secure.” By then, though, he’d been on the lam for years, having fled Richardson, which is where the feds in 2005 raided his home and office, confiscating more than $200,000 worth of diamonds and a stack of $1,000 bills. Oh, and also a copy of Bout’s passport. Wild, right?
The Dallas Observer got an interview with Chichakli in 2007 and described him then as being in exile. You can read Jesse Hyde’s story here. Of course, it’s the Observer site, so all the popups and tracking widgets will make your computer grind to a halt before it catches on fire. After you’ve extinguished the flames, you can use your phone to read this short 2013 New Yorker story written after Chichakli had been arrested.
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