Safariland, owned by billionaire Warren Kanders, remains the number one supplier of pepper spray and tear gas to ICE and CBP, via a large federal distributor run by a MAGA-aligned former Marine.
In the moments before Border Patrol officers shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last week, they pepper sprayed him in the face as he tried to protect a fellow protestor. Shocking photos have circulated showing how ICE agents have aggressively used the substance, which is considered a non-lethal chemical weapon, to control crowds protesting the Trump administration’s increasingly violent immigration crackdown.
Both pepper spray and tear gas can incapacitate people by causing searing burning pain and making it difficult to breathe. According to government contracting records, the government largely buys them from a small group of little known companies. Over the last year, these companies have signed deals for chemical weapons and equipment with ICE, and their largest ever contract with CBP, Border Patrol’s parent agency.
Quantico Tactical, a weapons and armor distributor based in Aberdeen, North Carolina, is by far the biggest supplier of chemical weapons to ICE and CBP during Trump’s second term, per contracting records. Founded by North Carolina-based David Hensley, a former Marine Corps major, it has sold $4.7 million of tear gas and pepper spray to the agencies since January 2025, nearly triple its $1.7 million in sales the previous year. It has also provided more traditional munitions to ICE; its biggest contract with the agency was for $10 million in “firearms and magazines” in September last year.
As a distributor, Quantico doesn’t manufacture any equipment it sells; it resells others’ products. Though the public contracts don’t provide the name of the manufacturer, Quantico is a major reseller of equipment from Safariland, one of the best-known providers of chemical non-lethal weapons to federal agencies.
As Forbes reported in December, Safariland is owned by Cadre Holdings, which is run by billionaire Warren Kanders, a former Morgan Stanley banker who has acquired a small army of defense and law enforcement weaponry and armour businesses over the years. Cadre owns a number of other ICE contractors, including Canada-based Icor Technology, which sold a robot to the agency last year that’s capable of opening doors, climbing stairs and firing smoke bombs, per a previous Forbes report. Its pepper spray is being used in Minneapolis; Forbes reviewed a court filing in Minnesota from earlier this month, in which a federal agent used “MK-9” pepper spray on a protestor. That brand of chemical weapon is sold by Safariland’s Defense Technology.
Kanders has donated primarily to Republican candidates, according to federal records. The billionaire, who once gave $2,700 to support Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run, has shifted alliances, donating $8,400 to the National Republican Congressional Committee and $25,000 to the WinRed fundraising vehicle for the Republicans in 2024. He also backed Michael Waltz, donating $6,600 for his Congressional run and $5,000 for his Warrior Diplomat PAC. Waltz would later leave Congress to become Trump’s National Security Advisor (a job he later lost after an embarrassing leak of military information on the Signal messaging app). Now U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Waltz has also expressed repeated support for Trump’s deportation and border security programs.
In his home state of North Carolina, Hensley has gained a reputation as a MAGA-aligned, hardline conservative, after he tried to take control of a school board in Moore County to push an anti-woke agenda. He has caused controversy twice during his time on the board, first in showing support for the January 6 Capitol Hill rioters and more recently when he called a Jewish board chair a Nazi, according to local reports.
Safariland also sells equipment through ADS, or Atlantic Diving Supply, founded by Virginia Beach-based Luke Hillier. It has sold over $400,000 in pepper spray and tear gas to ICE and CBP since Trump returned to the White House. As Forbes previously reported, ADS is one of ICE’s biggest suppliers of military and AI technologies more generally, including Skydio drones, body armor, guns and ammunition. Compared to Hensley and Kanders, Hillier has kept a low profile and has no known political affiliations.
The trio of businesses may not be in for such significant windfalls in 2026, if the political winds shift against ICE. After Pretti’s killing, Democratic lawmakers in Congress have rallied to vote against a budget boost that would grant ICE another $10 billion for the fiscal year ahead.
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This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
