On September 19, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement made a $61,218 fee for “guided missile warheads and explosive parts,” in keeping with the Product and Service Code (PSC) included within the payment record on a federal contracting database.
“This award supplies a number of distraction gadgets to assist legislation enforcement operations and ICE- Workplace of Firearms and Tactical Packages,” the file’s description part reads.
The Substack Common Info mentioned this fee in a Monday article, which targeted on the truth that ICE spending within the “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance equipment manufacturing” product class elevated by 700 % between 2024 and 2025. (Spending elevated by about 636 %, per WIRED’s evaluation of the identical class and time intervals Common Info measured.) Phrase of the fee additionally circulated on Tuesday after a publish on BlueSky by Democratic Wisconsin state senator Chris Larson went viral.
It seems, concern over ICE brokers planning to make use of warheads is probably going primarily based on a mistake. Quantico Tactical, the corporate listed because the provider of stated warheads within the federal fee information, doesn’t promote any explosive gadgets. (It sells a wide range of firearms, switchblades, and weapon equipment.) David Hensley, founder and CEO of Quantico Tactical, informed WIRED in an e-mail that the PSC “seems to be an error.”
“Quantico Tactical doesn’t promote, and I believe that CBP ICE doesn’t buy, ‘Guided Missile Warheads,’” Hensley stated, referencing Customs and Border Safety. He added that the remainder of the fee file seems to be appropriate.
PSCs are assigned by a authorities company’s contracting workplace, not the non-public contractor. Hensley declined to take a position on what the proper PSC for the fee could also be. He additionally declined to make clear which “distraction gadgets” ICE bought. Nevertheless, ICE made two different payments to Quantico Tactical for “distraction gadgets” in September 2024 and August 2025.
The descriptions for each fee information declare that they’re for coaching applications run by ICE’s Workplace of Firearms and Tactical Packages (OFTP). Each funds information use the PSC for “chemical weapons and tools,” which includes objects like “flame throwers” and “smoke mills.”
An ICE “Firearms and Use of Pressure” handbook from 2021 doesn’t point out any permitted use of flame throwers, nevertheless it does point out using “chemical munitions” comparable to smoke, pepper spray, and tear fuel. (It notes that their use have to be permitted by the company’s affiliate director and the OFTP.) Quantico Tactical doesn’t record smoke bombs, pepper spray, or tear fuel on the market on its web site, although it does record equipment like smoke-resistant goggles and holders for mace, flash grenades, and smoke bombs. It’s unclear what ICE could have bought.
