Unable to cut a deal with Russian suppliers, Diveroli turned to his favorite middle man, Heinrich Thomet, to bargain with the Albanians.

While the young dealers were able to fulfill preliminary orders with relative ease, they hit a snag when they received their largest order yet: $49 million in ammunition, including 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammo. While there were many reasons the relative novices won the contract (including the Bush Administration’s efforts to aid small businesses), the most significant were their price points - coming in at $300 million, Diveroli and Packouz lowballed their nearest competitors by at least $50 million. With that in mind, the pair began to scour the FedBizzOpps website for potential contracts on a daily basis.Īrming Themselves With The Proper LogisticsĪ year into their joint business venture, Diveroli and Packouz got the break they were looking for - in the form of an enormous contract with the Pentagon. Early on, Diveroli had made an important realization - rather than chasing a variety of smaller deals, he should target one very big gun: the U.S. At 18, he founded AEY Inc., the dealership that would make him (however briefly) rich beyond his wildest dreams.Īfter bringing Packouz - who had been working as a massage therapist - into his business in 2005, Diveroli shifted his attention from small contracts to larger orders. and worked as an apprentice dealer with his uncle. For Diveroli, arms dealing was a family business - after dropping out of high school in ninth grade he went to L.A. “At Synagogue,” notes the Miami New Times, “the chubby youngster would run up to older neighbors, yank off their yarmulkes, and run away laughing hysterically.” Although Packouz was four years older than Diveroli, he considered him a close friend - alongside Alex Podrizki, another future arms dealer.Īlthough Diveroli dropped out of high school and Packouz barely completed two semesters of college, both young men had ambitions that exceeded their pay grade. Even from a young age, precocious to-be tycoon Diveroli was loathe to play by the rules.

The real war dogs story