On September 19, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement made a $61,218 fee for “guided missile warheads and explosive elements,” in line with the Product and Service Code (PSC) included within the fee file on a federal contracting database.
“This award gives a number of distraction units to help legislation enforcement operations and ICE- Workplace of Firearms and Tactical Applications,” the file’s description part reads.
The Substack In style Data talked about this fee in a Monday article, which centered on the truth that ICE spending within the “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance equipment manufacturing” product class elevated by 700 p.c between 2024 and 2025. (Spending elevated by about 636 p.c, per WIRED’s evaluation of the identical class and time intervals In style Data measured.) Phrase of the fee additionally circulated on Tuesday after a put up 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 based mostly on a mistake. Quantico Tactical, the corporate listed because the provider of stated warheads within the federal fee information, doesn’t promote any explosive units. (It sells quite a lot of firearms, switchblades, and weapon equipment.) David Hensley, founder and CEO of Quantico Tactical, instructed 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 right.
PSCs are assigned by a authorities company’s contracting workplace, not the personal contractor. Hensley declined to invest on what the right PSC for the fee could also be. He additionally declined to make clear which “distraction units” ICE bought. Nonetheless, ICE made two different funds to Quantico Tactical for “distraction units” in September 2024 and August 2025.
The descriptions for each fee information declare that they’re for coaching packages run by ICE’s Workplace of Firearms and Tactical Applications (OFTP). Each funds information use the PSC for “chemical weapons and gear,” which contains gadgets like “flame throwers” and “smoke mills.”
An ICE “Firearms and Use of Pressure” handbook from 2021 doesn’t point out any authorised use of flame throwers, however it does point out the usage of “chemical munitions” corresponding to smoke, pepper spray, and tear fuel. (It notes that their use should be authorised 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 might have bought.
