Michael E Picard

A Corrupt Police Network and Arms Trafficking in LAC How do arms trafficking and state corruption networks in Latin America operate, and how they can be disrupted?

What A Corrupt Police Network in the #DominicanRepublic Reveals About #ArmsTrafficking

By @mperonius.bsky.social, Jorge Delgado Golusda, and Andrei Serbin Pont

www.justsecurity.org/109308/polic...

15/The two incidents are probably a coincidence, and not a trend. But they show that US personnel and assets are extremely dependent on contractors. With everything that’s going on in the neighborhood, not to mention the fact that US lives are at stake, this deserves transparency.

14/It seems more than likely to me that this includes contractors in some way.

4 US Navy personnel safe after Polilio emergency landing Four US Navy personnel, including the pilot and co-pilot, cheated death after making an emergency landing on Polilio Island in Quezon province on Saturday.

13/This past weekend, a US Navy helicopter pulled off an emergency landing in Quezon Province after engine trouble almost caused it to crash. The Navy dispatched another aircraft to rescue the personnel and ferry mechanics to inspect the damaged helicopter.

Source: www.philstar.com/nation/2025/...

Elon Musk's team is expected to target the Pentagon soon, pledging cost cuts The DOGE team is aiming to cut 8% from next year's defense budget, officials tell NPR.

12/This incident also shows how much US forces are reliant on contracted support. With Musk ripping out the USG's guts, how would US forces be impacted by a sudden reduction of contracted support, or even a reduction of government capacity to manage contracted support?

www.npr.org/2025/02/14/n...

11/Because the ISR flight was operated by a contractor, is it easier to sweep this incident under the rug in terms of public investigation and accountability? One of the “perks” of contractors is that they help keep deployed troop numbers low and reduce the visibility of military operations.

10/I’m not suggesting any of this is unusual or suspicious. This is all public information. The military’s reliance on contractors and US operations in the Philippines are nothing new. But it does bring up two points.

9/CH may be under a $50mil contract (PIID HTC71123FC027) for airlift support services in the Philippines, funded by USSOCOM Pacific.

Source: www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_A...

8/I wanted to see if the companies’ contracts are publicly visible on USASpending. To the best of my ability, I couldn’t find anything for Metrea (in fact, their aviation services branch hasn’t received any public awards since 2021).

Source: www.usaspending.gov/recipient/b0...

7/Images showed several heavy-duty-looking personnel in civilian clothes at the site. I assume CH just leased the helicopter – it’s unclear if the personnel are also contractors or are special forces.

Source: www.facebook.com/dxmy729/post...

Aviation Photo #7164797: Boeing Vertol Hkp4A (107-II-4) - Columbia Helicopters Photo taken at Santa Maria - Public / Captain G Allan Hancock Field (SMX / KSMX) in California, USA in March, 2023.

6/Images also showed the response team that secured the site – which appeared to entail a distinctly non-military CH-47 helicopter (registration N168CH) operated by Columbia Helicopters, another specialized military aviation contractor.

Source: www.airliners.net/photo/Columb...

Philippines Accident Press Release, Thursday 6th February 2025 | Metrea Metrea is sad to announce an accident involving one of our aircraft in the Philippines.

5/A quick google search shows it was produced by Raytheon and registered to Metrea, a private company that provides a range of military aviation services, including ISR. Metrea confirmed the crash in statement.

Source: www.metrea.aero/news/press-r...

4/Images of the crash posted by local news outlets on social media showed the plane’s registration number – N349CA.

Source [WARNING! GRAPHIC!]: www.facebook.com/dxmy729/post...

3/This is a tragedy, and my thoughts and respect go out to those who lost their lives and their loved ones.

Marine identified as victim of surveillance flight that crashed in Philippines Military officials identified a U.S. Marine who died in a plane crash in the Philippines last week as Sgt. Jacob M. Durham, a California native.

2/On Feb 6, a small aircraft crashed in Maguindanao del Sur in the Philippines' restive Bangsamoro region. One US marine and three US contractors died. They were conducting a routine surveillance flight under INDOPACOM’s command, in support of PH forces.
Source: www.wwbl.com/2025/02/09/m...

Marine identified as victim of surveillance flight that crashed in Philippines Military officials identified a U.S. Marine who died in a plane crash in the Philippines last week as Sgt. Jacob M. Durham, a California native.

What a plane crash in the Philippines reveals about US military contractor activity 1/

@WarNoir on Twitter identified the remaining rifles as Sudanese MIC Terab rifles. x.com/war_noir/sta...

On Egypt border, senior IDF officer warns quietest ‘front’ has potential to erupt Col. Shemer Raviv details challenges on 200-kilometer border for which he is responsible, including the increasing threat of drones

Times of Israel recently covered the evolving tactics used by smuggles on the border with Egypt.

www.timesofisrael.com/on-egypt-bor...

צה״ל - הערוץ הרשמי דובר צה"ל: כוחות צה"ל סיכלו הברחת אמצעי לחימה במרחב גבול מצרים כוחות צה״ל זיהו במהלך הלילה, רחפן שחצה משטח מצרים לשטח מדינת ישראל במרחב חטיבת פארן. הרחפן הופל על-ידי הכוח שהגיע לנקודה ואותרו על הרח...

source: t.me/idf_telegram...

IDF seized 13 rifles and ammunition when they interdicted a drone that crossed over the southern border from Egypt, the IDF reported on Jan 29. Image showed 10 Norinco CQ rifles (my guess is from Sudan) two M4-style rifles (with CQ features), and another AR-pattern.

If you like what I do and feel supportive, please consider making a contribution to HALO. I won't receive any of it (and I don't intend to make any money from this). It will help brave people remove explosive ordnance from the earth and help civilians touched by war rebuild their lives. Thank you.

5. I welcome informative discussion about the subject matter. I will not engage in frivolous, politicized debates, and I will not respond to bad faith or disrespectful commentary. If that's what you're looking for, go back to Xitter.

4. I will not repost media from terrorist organizations, other than screenshots to demonstrate the point of the analysis.

3. I provide weapon IDs and technical insights where I can, but I am not an expert in this. I am not fluent in ATGM, AK, AR, MANPADS, or anything else really, but I am conversational. Corrections are always appreciated.

2. I will keep analysis to a minimum on most posts. I will describe what's written and what's shown (which often differ).

That said, I will occasionally share larger posts with heavier analysis on topics where I've done the research.

1. Most of these posts come from my work as Deputy Editor for the HALO Trust, though not exclusively. I will credit my colleagues and collaborators where appropriate.

I may create a separate account for tracking arms control and trafficking events in the Philippines, which is a related focus.