Skip to main content

Erik Prince violated Libya arms embargo, UN report alleges

The Blackwater founder and associates sought to buy helicopter gunships from Jordan to aid Libyan warlord Khalifa Hifter's assault on Tripoli, investigators believe.
Erik Prince, former Navy Seal and founder of private military contractor Blackwater USA, arrives to testify during a closed-door House Select Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, November 30, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB        (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Blackwater founder and prominent Donald Trump campaign donor Erik Prince is accused of violating the United Nations’ arms embargo on Libya by working with a team of mercenaries to obtain military hardware to aid the offensive of rogue leader Khalifa Hifter in 2019, according to a UN report.

Prince, a former Navy SEAL and brother of former US Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, allegedly ran an $80 million scheme that involved delivering two armed gunboats, three attack helicopters and at least one military drone to Libya in 2019, as well as potential plans to create an assassination team to kill certain Libyan military commanders.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.