The family of alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, extradited to the United States from Thailand late last year, arrived in New York on Friday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
Bout's wife Alla, daughter Liza and mother Raisa arrived onboard a plane from Moscow, which landed in New York's JFK international airport several hours ago. They are set to support Bout during court hearings to begin later this year.
Bout's wife, Alla, said they were held by migration officers shortly after landing.
"They were certainly waiting for us. We had to wait for more than two hours while they examined our luggage, everything we had in our bags: notebooks, photographs, all personal belongings, my personal papers," she said.
She said migration officers did not allow them to contact the Russian consul.
"The vice consul called me, but they ordered to switch off the phone," Alla Bout added.
"A migration service official asked me if I knew that my husband was a terrorist and why he was arrested. I said that I didn't, and that no evidence was ever presented to prove that he was a terrorist," she said.
Former Russian army officer Bout was arrested in Thailand in March 2008 during a sting operation led by U.S. agents and extradited to the United States in November after spending more than two and half years in Thai prisons.
The charges against him include conspiring to supply arms to terrorist groups and kill U.S. nationals. Bout denies all charges.
He is currently being kept at a New York prison and the pre-trial hearings will begin on January 10.
NEW YORK, January 7 (RIA Novosti)
