Who is the Russian arms dealer that the U.S. exchanged for Brittney Griner?

In the 2005 Nicolas Cage movie “Lord of War,” the character loosely based on Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout evades his American law enforcement pursuers, apparently saved by the CIA.

But in real life, the U.S. government set up an elaborate operation in 2008 to capture and prosecute Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” because he was said to be one of the world’s largest illicit arms dealers.

Now he is on his way back to Russia after a high-profile prisoner exchange that saw WNBA star Brittney Griner free early Thursday.

Read more on NBC News here.