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 “Extradition was a political decision that has no legal basis whatsoever,” Alla bout, the spouse of extradited Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout told Russia’s NTV. The United States won a protracted battle with Moscow for custody of alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout on Tuesday when Thailand extradited him to face terrorism charges in the U.S.

The Thai Cabinet approved the extradition Tuesday morning after over two years of legal wrangling. Soon after, Mr. Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, was escorted to a U.S. aircraft and departed Bangkok at around 1:30 p.m. local time.

Russia will continue to defend alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout, extradited from Thailand to the United States on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Thai authorities assisted by U.S. agents arrested Mr. Bout in a sting operation at a luxury Bangkok hotel in March 2008. The plan took nearly a year to put in place and involved undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents luring Mr. Bout to Thailand to finalize a $5 million deal to sell shoulder-fired missiles to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.

Mr. Bout denies trading arms and says he operated a legitimate cargo business that specialized in delivering goods in some of the world's most dangerous places. Fluent in several languages, he built up the business during the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago and has described the terrorism charges he now faces in the U.S. as a "frame-up."