NBC: Feds Investigate Blackwater Silencer SmugglingTime to update the ol’ Blackwater investigation tally. NBC reports that federal investigators are probing the company’s exportation of “dozens” of silencers to Iraq and elsewhere. It’s illegal to do so without permission from the State Department.
NBC reports that a whole bevy of agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the State Department are in on the investigation, which appears to be related to the broader federal criminal investigation for arms smuggling by Blackwater guards led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh, N.C.
Intriguingly, NBC reports that “experts say it is not clear why Blackwater guards would need them for missions such as personal protection of diplomats.”