Hunter and Timothy Vamvakias, both former U.S. Army sergeants, and several other suspects were arrested this week and are being transported to New York to face charges that include murder and drug conspiracy, as well as weapons possession.
“The bone-chilling allegations in today’s indictment read like they were ripped from the pages of a Tom Clancy novel,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement. “The charges tell a tale of an international band of mercenary marksmen who enlisted their elite military training to serve as hired guns for evil ends.”
The DEA informants agreed to pay Hunter and two others $700,000 for the two killings, as well as an additional $100,000 to Hunter “for his leadership role,” according to an indictment filed in New York.
The killings were to take place in Liberia, Bharara said at a press conference on Friday.
Hunter and his alleged accomplices – who include Vamvakias, Dennis Gogel and Michael Filter of Germany, and Slawomir Soborski of Poland – were rounded up in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting.
Hunter was arrested in Thailand.