The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reportedly investigating prominent Donald Trump supporter Erik Prince for trying to weaponize two crop duster aircraft.
According to theintercept.com, the former CEO of mercenary contractor Blackwater and heir to a billion-dollar fortune may have violated arms trafficking regulations in 2015 with his attempts to transform two American-made agricultural crop-dusting planes into attack aircraft.
“The two planes, manufactured by Thrush Aircraft in Albany, Georgia, were the first prototypes Prince built in an effort to create a low-cost air force for his vision of privatized warfare,” the report said.
The alleged violations were discovered in 2015 by U.S. law firm King & Spalding, which was by hired Hong Kong-based logistics company Frontier Services Group (FSG), which was founded by Prince. FSG reportedly contacted the U.S. firm to investigate its work and look for possible U.S. law violations in its weapon sales and export of defense services.
In addition to allegations of illegally modifying crop dusters, Prince is the focus of several other ongoing probes. One focuses on accusations that he lied to Congress, while The Wall Street Journal claims that another is linked to a 2017 armed aviation proposal to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
