NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- For years , Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout made millions of dollars delivering weapons and ammunition to warlords and militants , officials say . On Thursday , Bout and his associate , Andrew Smulian , were arrested in Thailand after a series of events that officials said could have come straight out of a spy novel . The men 's capture involved law enforcement agencies from at least five countries , including two undercover agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration posing as Colombian rebels . Bout and Smulian are accused of conspiracy to provide surface-to-air missiles and other weapons to Colombian rebels , said Michael Garcia , U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York . In a complaint filed by a DEA agent , they are said to have conspired to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , or FARC . The U.S. Department of State designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in 2003 . `` This marks the end of the reign of one of the world 's most-wanted arms traffickers , '' Garcia said of Bout . `` Someone will undoubtedly write a book about this case someday , and I can tell you that it will read like the very best work of Tom Clancy , only in this case , it wo n't be fiction , '' said Michael Braun , assistant administrator and chief of operations for the DEA . Secret meetings . The operation began in January , when Smulian began meeting with two men who claimed to represent FARC but who were actually confidential sources working for the DEA . The men expressed interest in buying millions of dollars worth of weapons . At meetings in the Netherlands Antilles , Denmark and Romania , Smulian discussed the details and logistics of the arms deal with the two agents . At one meeting , the agents were given a digital memory stick containing an article about Bout and documents containing photos and specifications for 100 surface-to-air missiles and armor-piercing rocket launchers . Smulian explained that a delivery system was in place that would allow the weapons to be air-dropped into Colombia , and he told the men that it would cost $ 5 million to transport the weapons . During one meeting , Smulian introduced the DEA sources to Bout over the phone . After that conversation , Smulian told one of the sources that the weapons were ready in Bulgaria . Smulian and Bout set up a face-to-face meeting with them to finalize the deal , and that is what happened Thursday . The arrests were made Thursday afternoon . The charges against Bout and Smulian cover the period from November through February , according to a written statement from the U.S. attorney 's office and the DEA . The United States plans to pursue the extradition of Bout from Thailand , the statement said . There was no mention of Smulian 's fate . Bout and Smulian are charged with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization . If convicted , each could get a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison , the statement said . ' I 'm not a diamond guy ' Intelligence agencies around the world have tracked Bout for years . Although some of his work has been legitimate , most has not . He has made deliveries to Africa , Asia and the Mideast using obsolete or surplus Soviet-era cargo planes . Bout , a former Soviet air force officer who speaks multiple languages , has what is reputed to be the largest private fleet of Soviet-era cargo aircraft in the world , according to U.S. officials . He acquired the planes shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union , the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in 2005 . At that time , the U.S. Treasury announced that it was freezing the assets of Bout and his associates , who are all tied to former Liberian President Charles Taylor . Taylor is being tried on war crimes charges by the Special Court for Sierra Leone . Intelligence officials said Bout shipped large quantities of small arms to civil wars across Africa and Asia , often taking diamonds in payment from West African fighters . A 2006 article in Foreign Policy magazine said that although Bout served many third-world leaders , he also aided organizations such as the United Nations . `` He made countless trips for the United Nations into the same areas where he supplied the weapons that sparked the humanitarian crises in the first place , '' the article charged . It said Bout probably committed multiple violations of U.N. arms embargoes . British intelligence officials found evidence in Afghanistan that Bout had shipped arms to the Taliban and al Qaeda , as well as circumstantial evidence that he shipped weapons technology into Iraq . And the U.S. government said it received information that Bout profited $ 50 million from supplying the Taliban with military equipment when they ruled Afghanistan . Bout , who is said to be the inspiration for Nicolas Cage 's arms dealer character in the movie `` Lord of War , '' told CNN in 2002 that he never sold arms to the Taliban or al Qaeda . He also denied providing weapons and missile-guidance technology to Iraq . Bout said that his air transport company is legitimate and that he ferried a variety of cargo to Africa and to Afghanistan since 1992 . He denied that any of it was done illegally or that he was paid in `` blood diamonds '' from Africa . `` It 's a lie , '' he said . `` I never touched diamonds in my life , and I 'm not a diamond guy , and I do n't want to go into that business . '' Some reports at the time claimed that Bout flew into Afghanistan just before September 11 , 2001 . But Bout told CNN that the last time he was in Afghanistan was 1996 and that he never met terror mastermind Osama bin Laden . E-mail to a friend .
NEW : The United States wants Viktor Putin extradited from Thailand . Bout , associate are accused of conspiring to sell weapons to Colombian rebels . British officials say Bout sold arms to the Taliban and al Qaeda . He is said to have inspired Nicolas Cage role in movie ` ` Dogs of War ''