From a Washington Post story by Adam Taylor headlined “Russia wanted Viktor Bout back, badly. The question is: Why?”:

At the U.S. penitentiary in Marion, Ill., in a special unit so restrictive that it has the nickname “Little Guantánamo,” a broad-chested, mustachioed man nicknamed the “merchant of death,” who speaks at least six languages, was serving a 25-year term after building a gun-smuggling empire that spanned the globe.

His name was Viktor Bout. And his native Russia wanted him home, badly. The big question: Why?