Damien Lewis - Operation Relentless: The Hunt for the Richest, Deadliest Criminal in History

Operation Relentless

Also By

Also By Damien Lewis

Modern Day Elite Forces:

Operation Certain Death

Bloody Heroes

Cobra 405

Zero Six Bravo

World War Two:

War Dog

Judy: A Dog in a Million

Churchills Secret Warriors

The Nazi Hunters

Hunting the Nazi Bomb

Co-authored by Damien Lewis:

Sergeant Rex

Its All About Treo

Fire Strike 7/9

Operation Mayhem

X Platoon

Homeland

A Dog Called Hope

Title

Copyright

This ebook edition first published in 2017 by

Quercus Editions Ltd

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

An Hachette UK company

Copyright Omega Ventures Ltd 2017

The moral right of Damien Lewis to be

identified as the author of this work has been

asserted in accordance with the Copyright,

Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopy, recording, or any

information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

Ebook ISBN 978 1 84866 540 8

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders.

However, the publishers will be glad to rectify in future editions

any inadvertent omissions brought to their attention.

Quercus Editions Ltd hereby exclude all liability to the extent permitted by law

for any errors or omissions in this book and for any loss, damage or expense

(whether direct or indirect) suffered by a third party relying on any

information contained in this book.

PICTURE CREDITS

(numbered in order of appearance)

1 Mike Snow

2, 17 USAF

3 Vladimir Melnik

4, 9, 16, 19, 20 DEA exhibits

5, 7, 8 - Andrew Chittock

6 - Reuters

9 DEA

10 Reuters/Jose Gomez

11 Reuters/Jaime Saldarriaga

12 AP/Fernando Vergara

13 Reading Eagle

14 Alamy/SPUTNIK

15 Getty/Luis Robayo

18 - Snow/Sagastume

Ebook by CC Book Production

Cover design 2017 Headdesign

www.quercusbooks.co.uk

Dedication

For Peter Fawbert

A warrior and a survivor

Epigraphs

Once the wings go on they never come off... They fuse to the soul through adversity, fear and adrenalin, and no one who has ever worn them with pride, integrity and guts can ever sleep through the call of the wild...

When a good flier retires... we wonder if he knows what he is leaving behind... We know that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience... there is a fellowship that lasts long after the flight suits are hung up in the back of the closet. We know that even if he throws them away, they will be on him every step that remains in his life. We know that the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.

Because we flew, we envy no man on earth.

Author unknown

Life is very much a matter of luck and the odds in favour of success are in no way enhanced by extreme caution.

Erich Topf

Contents

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the following for their efforts and assistance in enabling me to tell this story:

Annabel Merullo, my literary agent for this book at PFD. My film agent, Luke Speed, at Curtis Brown. All at my publisher Quercus, and especially my editor, Richard Milner, Ben Brock (editorial), Charlotte Fry (editorial), Dave Murphy (sales), Bethan Ferguson (marketing) and Patrick Carpenter (cover design).

Freelance editor and fellow author Josh Ireland. Lucy Dundas and Digby Halsby at Flint PR. My UK researcher, Simon Fowler. My US researcher, Sim Smiley; thank you for all your sterling efforts. Dawn Dearden, Senior Public Information Officer for the US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. Caroline Walton, author of books on Russia and the USSR, who acted as my Russian translator. David Lewis, who acted as my French translator.

Michael Braun, former DEA Assistant Administrator and Chief of Operations, and now General Manager at SAVA Workforce Solutions. Lord Peter Hain, who as a government minister spearheaded the British efforts to capture Viktor Bout, for his comments and insight. Lee Wolosky, who during his time at the NSC led the US hunt for Viktor Bout. General Sir David Richards for his comments on the Sierra Leone conflict and permission to use them herein. Author and sometime Bout confidant, Gerald Posner, for the timely discussions and insight. Former SAS man and TV adventurer, Bear Grylls. Matt Potter, author of Outlaws Inc. , a superlative book about the global airfreight business and the arms trade. Saul David, friend, fellow author and commentator on all matters military. Paul and Anne Sherratt, for the Curaao visit and the excellent input, as always.

I am also indebted to those authors and others that have previously dealt with some of the topics addressed in this book. In alphabetical order they are: Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun ( Merchant Of Death); Andrew Feinstein ( The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade); Peter Hain ( Outside In ); Alexander Mishchenko ( Escape From Kandahar ); Matt Potter ( Outlaws Inc.); Tony Gerber and Maxi Pozdorovkin (the documentary film The Notorious Mr. Bout).

I am enormously grateful for the cooperation, assistance and hospitality extended to me by Mike Snow, Margaret Snow and Carlos Sagastume.

Finally, my heartfelt thanks, once again, to Eva, David, Damien Jr and Sianna, for putting up with me during the time spent writing.

It cant have been easy.

Authors Note

During the writing of this book I have been granted access to DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) transcripts and recordings, and to the records of the court case that resulted from Operation Relentless. The scenes and dialogue as portrayed in this book are largely based upon those recordings and transcripts, augmented by the personal testimonies of those involved.

Transcripts have been used verbatim, complete with verbal errors, grammatical errors and incorrect spelling. To note all these errors in the customary fashion [sic] would be too repetitive and burdensome and I have refrained from doing so. At times, the dialogue may appear a little stilted and disjointed, but this is how people tend to converse, especially when they are not speaking in their first language. For clarity, use of ellipses generally denotes a break, where I have edited conversations to ease the sense and flow.

The only scene germane to Operation Relentless for which there exist almost no DEA transcripts is that of Andrew Smulians meeting with Viktor Bout in Moscow. Smulian spoke at length about this meeting under oath at Bouts trial, and also under cross-examination. I have worked on the assumption that what he said under oath in a US court of law is true and accurate. My rendering of this part of the story is also based upon the testimony of the DEA team as to what Smulian told them, immediately following his Moscow visit.