JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Ukraine, a U.S. Arms Dealer Is Making a Fortune and Testing Limits” – New York Times
“Billions are pouring into a clubby, secretive arms market. With Pentagon cash and unusually close Ukrainian military ties, Marc Morales has few peers.”
“… The [Biden] administration has sent Ukraine more than $40 billion in security aid, including advanced weapons …. But the Pentagon also relies heavily on little-known arms dealers like [Florida-based Marc] Morales … [with] connections … to secure ammunition, much of it lower-quality or Soviet-caliber, from around the world. They operate in a notoriously shadowy, clubby arms trade … made even more opaque as Ukraine rolled back years of anticorruption rules. Arms dealers rushed to the country, backed by billions in foreign aid. The Pentagon has awarded [Morales’] company about $1 billion in contracts, mostly for ammunition. … [R]ecords show he has built a roughly $200 million side business selling to the Ukrainians directly. …”