11 Biggest Illegal International Arms Dealers of All Time

If you’re interested in illegal arms trade around the world, then our list of 11 biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time will prove to be an engrossing read!

What is an arms dealer? That’s “a person or business that sells weapons and other military equipment,” and for you, we have 11 of those. Hopefully, you didn’t miss the word “illegal” in our title. Being a legal arms dealer is a completely different thing. You would probably be surprised to find out which country is the largest exporter of arms in the world. Somewhat surprisingly, that would be the USA. This country owns 33% of the total international arms trade. For someone who has armies resolving conflicts on so many continents, we feel a little surprised they’re the biggest supplier of firearms and have so many countries as their (satisfied) customers. Right behind the US, there’s their old rival, Russia, with 25%, while the Republic of China has mere 5% in the overall export. On the other side, the biggest official importers of weapons are India, Saudi Arabia, China and, UAE. However, this is all official information on legal arms dealer jobs. Let’s now talk about some illegal arms trade facts.

What everyone agrees on is that arms trafficking is one lucrative business. Illicit gun trafficking value is $1 billion per year. However, these are small arms and light weapons. Some of the arms dealers we have chosen have trafficked missiles as well, so their profits must’ve been much higher. Not to mention aircraft, tanks, and other vehicles. Unfortunately, finding the illegal international arms dealer salary is a difficult task since they don’t really display their information to the IRS if you know what we mean. Also, buyers needn’t pay cash. Diamonds are more than welcome means of payment which doesn’t show on the bank account, and their size is conveniently small. As you can see, this kind of job offers you lots of options to consider. If you’re looking for a career in crime, check our list of most profitable crimes to commit, or see how you would rate at 10 Biggest Illegal Industries and Black Markets in the World.

In order to make an international arms dealers database of our own, we searched the web for the most outrageous cases and notorious names at the Daily Mail, Business Pundit, Vice, and The Guardian. We’ve collected 12 names, and needed to downsize the number to 11. We must admit that was tricky. These business people kept their net worth well hidden, and some of them passed away. Collecting data about their real average salaries is impossible, isn’t it? Not to mention, the alive ones claim they have nothing to do with illegal trading. Yet, here and there cases of corruption and smuggling emerge to the surface. Therefore, we read their biographies and looked for the most impressive buyers and cases. For instance, we ruled out that selling North Korean missiles was a much more serious business than selling AK-47 and loads of ammunition, no matter how many millions of dollars were involved. After all, we’re talking about the biggest arms dealers here.

Now let’s have a look which arms dealers have made their mark and which ones are still making history in 11 biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time.

11. Mick Ranger

Someone who The Guardian described as the “global dealer in death” and was at the time Britain’s biggest independent gun seller naturally found his place on our list. On the one hand, Mick Ranger was running a completely legitimate business as an arms dealer. On the other hand, he couldn’t resist a good business deal when he saw one. He was accused of attempting to sell a North Korean weapons system to Azerbaijan, or a man-portable air-defense system, more commonly known as a surface-to-air missile. The country had an embargo at the time, and it earned him 3 and a half years in prison.

10. Jean-Bernard Lasnaud

Even though he kept repeating that everything he was doing was completely legal and shown on his arms dealer website, it was far from the truth. He boasted that his Caribbean Group of Companies sold between $1 and $2.5 million in weapons every year, but who knows how much he was earning from his side businesses. Lasnaud, the number 10 on our list of biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time, was supplying Croatia and Ecuador with thousands of tons of weapons between 1992 and 1995. Eventually, he was accused of arms smuggling and fraud.

9. Leonid Minin

Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Revolutionary United Front group which operated in Sierra Leone were said to be his loyal customers. Where he used to get all his arms is a complicated story, but we can surely say he was an inspiration to those who are into the matter. Nicolas Cage’s character in Lord of War was partly based on Minin.

8. Monzer Al-Kassar

Monzer al-Kassar, aka  Prince of Marbella, was born in Syria. His career set off in the 70s, and by the 90s he already had a pretty successful business. At that time he was earning millions by selling arms to Croatia, Bosnia, and Somalia during a UN arms embargo with the three countries.

7. Fares Mana’a

Yemen has their representative on the list of 11 biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time, too. Not only that, but he’s the actual Governor of Sa’dah, a city in north-western Yemen. He’s been repeatedly accused of dealing arms to groups connected to Al-Qaeda. Along with this, he has (or had) the third occupation, too. He was accused of spying for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. That allegedly earned him some millions as well.

6. Samuel Cummings

Finally, an American on the list of biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time. It would be strange not to have one when we know this country is the largest legal exporter of arms. His loyal customers were Fidel Castro and General Rafael Trujillo, leader of the Dominican Republic. His company was so strong it had a monopoly over the global market in private arms sales.

5. Dr. Moosa Bin Shamsher

The Bangladeshi business tycoon ranks 5th on our list of biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time. He had his hands full during the 70s and the 80s. He definitely enjoys luxury (his car park comprises around a hundred private cars, and his shoes are decorated with $3 million worth diamonds). However, due to some irregular transactions, some of his funds were frozen on his Swiss bank account. We should also say his nickname is Prince Moosa. ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission) is his particular fan – every now and then he is invited to have a talk with them.

4. Sarkis G. Soghanalian

Here’s another nickname but it doesn’t sound very affectionate – the Merchant of Death. His golden era was during the Cold War because it established him as the leading arms merchant. Also, he wasn’t very popular for being the major arms seller to Saddam Hussein during the 1980s. Actually, his list of customers is rather long. There are militia groups during the Lebanese Civil War, Ecuador, and Nicaragua, Argentina (during the Falklands War) but he made a mistake when he tried to sell weapons to Iraq after the first Gulf war. He was supposed to be jailed for six years, but giving valuable information to the US reduced the sentence to only two years in prison.

3. Dale Stoffel

Up next on our list of biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time we have Dale Stoffel, who died in 2004, and apparently, the Iraqi government is owing to his widow some money – $25 million, to be more precise. Even though he was never officially accused of arms trafficking, Associated Press doesn’t have much praise for his actions. He was supposedly involved in shady business and corruption. His death is still a mystery.

2. Adnan Khashoggi

How much money is Adnan Khashoggi worth – that’s what the world was wondering for a looong time. You’ve probably heard of this Saudi Arabian businessman due to his lavish lifestyle. Lots of women and wild yacht parties were just one part of it. He was proclaimed as the richest man in the world during the 80s, but that was only because he was showing off his wealth in an attention-grabbing manner. Apparently, he knew what he was doing in the 60s when he started arms dealing. His first customers were US companies and Saudi Arabian government. The Iran-Contra affair was the cause for his arrest. Also, part of the problem was that he didn’t always report the extents of his business. For instance, he was paid $45m by France for a tank deal, and $106m by Lockheed. Adnan Khashoggi was still considered to be a person of influence before he died this year in June.

1. Viktor Anatolyevich Bout

Viktor Anatolyevich Bout (Russian: Виктор Анатольевич Бут) ends our list of 11 biggest illegal international arms dealers of all time. At the moment he is serving his 25 years sentence in a US prison, and that should be the good news since at first he was supposed to be there for life. Bout’s big mistake was trying to sell missiles to a Colombian militant group. Before that, he was shipping arms to Africa and the Middle East. Countries with embargo such as Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Congo also sought his help during their UN embargo. A man whose companies had an air fleet of between 40 and 60 aircraft surely was able to meet their requests.