Washington ( CNN ) -- International arms dealer Viktor Bout has been indicted by federal authorities on a series of new charges , including counts of illegally purchasing U.S. cargo planes to ferry weapons to warring parties and regimes in Africa and the Middle East . The new indictment , announced in New York and Washington Wednesday , comes as the United States steps up efforts to extradite Bout to New York from Thailand , where he has been jailed since 2008 . The indictment charges Bout , a Russian native , and his alleged American co-conspirator , Richard Chichakli , with the illegal purchase of a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 737 and with money laundering and wire fraud . Chichakli remains at large , authorities said . The Justice Department said Bout has been an international weapons trafficker since the 1990s , carrying out a massive weapons trafficking business by assembling a fleet of cargo planes to transport weapons to parts of Africa , the Middle East and South America . `` The arms that Bout has sold or brokered have fueled conflicts and supported regimes in Afghanistan , Angola , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Liberia , Rwanda , Sierra Leone and Sudan , '' the Justice Department said . Bout `` allegedly made a career of arming bloody conflicts and supporting rogue regimes across multiple continents , even using the U.S. banking system to secretly finance a private fleet of aircraft , '' said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara . The superseding indictments were returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York . The previous indictment of Bout centered on his alleged efforts to send millions of dollars worth of weapons to arm guerrilla fighters in Colombia . Thai courts to date have balked at extraditing Bout to the United States on the basis of the original charges . `` The United States has apprised Thai authorities of the new charges against Bout ... and will continue to work closely with them on this matter , '' the Justice Department statement said . `` The United States is also coordinating with Interpol to locate and arrest Chichakli . '' Tuesday , a Thai court rejected a request by Bout to be released on bond .
Bout accused of buying aircraft to transport weapons to Bangkok , Thailand . He , a Thai , has been in jail in Thailand since 2008 . Thailand has been trying to extradite him , hopes latest charges will help . American Richard Chichakli also accused of illegal purchase of Boeing 727 , Boeing 737 .