American businessman and investor Erik Prince participates in a discussion during CPAC at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Conference Center on March 27, 2026, in Grapevine, Texas.
Rep. Castro Urges Oversight of Erik Prince’s ‘Drone War’ in Haiti as Trump Pentagon Pushes for Closer Ties
Prince’s private military firm Vectus Global has helped carry out a Haitian government drone campaign that has killed dozens of civilians, including children.
A Democratic congressman said he is ramping up oversight as the Trump administration plans to strengthen its ties to a private military contractor in Haiti run by the president's close ally Erik Prince, which has conducted drone strikes that have killed dozens of innocent Haitians.
At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) grilled State and Defense department officials on the Pentagon's plans to “formalize” coordination among the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force, the Haitian government’s anti-gang task force and the contractor, Vectus Global.
Vectus was launched in 2025 by Prince, the former CEO of the mercenary group Blackwater, which became infamous for killing civilians during the war in Iraq. Near the end of his first term, President Donald Trump pardoned a group of Blackwater guards who'd been serving prison sentences for massacring 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
Though Prince never held an official position in Trump’s administrations, his sister Betsy DeVos has, and he's a major donor who has been described as an influential shadow adviser to the president on foreign policy. During Trump's second term, he's expanded his private security operations into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ecuador as well.
As Castro pointed out on Tuesday, Vectus' track record in Haiti has not been much better than Blackwater's.
He cited a March report from Human Rights Watch which found that between March 1, 2025 and January 21, 2026, drone strikes launched in Haiti killed 43 adults who were not members of criminal groups, as well as 17 children. Another 49 people without criminal ties were injured.
On September 20, a kamikaze drone detonated outside a recreational complex in Port-au-Prince, where the leader of a criminal group was distributing gifts to children. The attack killed nine children and one other person who was not a gang member, according to Human Rights Watch.
One mother described rushing to the hospital to find her 3-year-old daughter and her husband had been killed in the attack.
"When I saw them, my daughter’s foot was crushed, and she had other holes in her body," she said.
Another resident who arrived after the explosion said she saw a woman clutching her child.
"The explosion had taken off the baby’s two feet,” he said.
Gorkowski said that Vectus' operations with the task force in Haiti had become "more and more discriminant" as time has passed and said its efforts against gangs had been a "considerable success."
"It looks like they've killed 17 children and 43 adults who were not associated with any criminal group," Castro responded. "Certainly we would expect more discrimination or discernment than that."
According to a report from the UN mission in Haiti, the killing of civilians by drones in the country has continued. Between January and March 2026, drones killed or injured at least 69 more people who were not found to be gang members, including five children.
During the first quarter of 2026, security-force operations killed 1,149 people and injured 454. Among those casualties, 196 people unaffiliated with gangs were killed, and 192 were injured—making up about 24% of the total casualties.
It is unclear what involvement Vectus may have had with non-drone-related attacks. According to a UN report in March, Vectus has also been involved in task force attacks involving "helicopter gunfire."
A State Department official told Reuters that because they are foreign government contractors, US citizens working for Vectus were not required to disclose their activities, and the US has had no oversight over the group's operations.
"Private military contractors like Vectus Global are putting innocent Haitians at risk," Castro said on Tuesday. "I will continue to conduct oversight of these operations and demand congressional scrutiny."
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A Democratic congressman said he is ramping up oversight as the Trump administration plans to strengthen its ties to a private military contractor in Haiti run by the president's close ally Erik Prince, which has conducted drone strikes that have killed dozens of innocent Haitians.
At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) grilled State and Defense department officials on the Pentagon's plans to “formalize” coordination among the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force, the Haitian government’s anti-gang task force and the contractor, Vectus Global.
Vectus was launched in 2025 by Prince, the former CEO of the mercenary group Blackwater, which became infamous for killing civilians during the war in Iraq. Near the end of his first term, President Donald Trump pardoned a group of Blackwater guards who'd been serving prison sentences for massacring 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
Though Prince never held an official position in Trump’s administrations, his sister Betsy DeVos has, and he's a major donor who has been described as an influential shadow adviser to the president on foreign policy. During Trump's second term, he's expanded his private security operations into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ecuador as well.
As Castro pointed out on Tuesday, Vectus' track record in Haiti has not been much better than Blackwater's.
He cited a March report from Human Rights Watch which found that between March 1, 2025 and January 21, 2026, drone strikes launched in Haiti killed 43 adults who were not members of criminal groups, as well as 17 children. Another 49 people without criminal ties were injured.
On September 20, a kamikaze drone detonated outside a recreational complex in Port-au-Prince, where the leader of a criminal group was distributing gifts to children. The attack killed nine children and one other person who was not a gang member, according to Human Rights Watch.
One mother described rushing to the hospital to find her 3-year-old daughter and her husband had been killed in the attack.
"When I saw them, my daughter’s foot was crushed, and she had other holes in her body," she said.
Another resident who arrived after the explosion said she saw a woman clutching her child.
"The explosion had taken off the baby’s two feet,” he said.
Gorkowski said that Vectus' operations with the task force in Haiti had become "more and more discriminant" as time has passed and said its efforts against gangs had been a "considerable success."
"It looks like they've killed 17 children and 43 adults who were not associated with any criminal group," Castro responded. "Certainly we would expect more discrimination or discernment than that."
According to a report from the UN mission in Haiti, the killing of civilians by drones in the country has continued. Between January and March 2026, drones killed or injured at least 69 more people who were not found to be gang members, including five children.
During the first quarter of 2026, security-force operations killed 1,149 people and injured 454. Among those casualties, 196 people unaffiliated with gangs were killed, and 192 were injured—making up about 24% of the total casualties.
It is unclear what involvement Vectus may have had with non-drone-related attacks. According to a UN report in March, Vectus has also been involved in task force attacks involving "helicopter gunfire."
A State Department official told Reuters that because they are foreign government contractors, US citizens working for Vectus were not required to disclose their activities, and the US has had no oversight over the group's operations.
"Private military contractors like Vectus Global are putting innocent Haitians at risk," Castro said on Tuesday. "I will continue to conduct oversight of these operations and demand congressional scrutiny."
A Democratic congressman said he is ramping up oversight as the Trump administration plans to strengthen its ties to a private military contractor in Haiti run by the president's close ally Erik Prince, which has conducted drone strikes that have killed dozens of innocent Haitians.
At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) grilled State and Defense department officials on the Pentagon's plans to “formalize” coordination among the United Nations-backed Gang Suppression Force, the Haitian government’s anti-gang task force and the contractor, Vectus Global.
Vectus was launched in 2025 by Prince, the former CEO of the mercenary group Blackwater, which became infamous for killing civilians during the war in Iraq. Near the end of his first term, President Donald Trump pardoned a group of Blackwater guards who'd been serving prison sentences for massacring 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
Though Prince never held an official position in Trump’s administrations, his sister Betsy DeVos has, and he's a major donor who has been described as an influential shadow adviser to the president on foreign policy. During Trump's second term, he's expanded his private security operations into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ecuador as well.
As Castro pointed out on Tuesday, Vectus' track record in Haiti has not been much better than Blackwater's.
He cited a March report from Human Rights Watch which found that between March 1, 2025 and January 21, 2026, drone strikes launched in Haiti killed 43 adults who were not members of criminal groups, as well as 17 children. Another 49 people without criminal ties were injured.
On September 20, a kamikaze drone detonated outside a recreational complex in Port-au-Prince, where the leader of a criminal group was distributing gifts to children. The attack killed nine children and one other person who was not a gang member, according to Human Rights Watch.
One mother described rushing to the hospital to find her 3-year-old daughter and her husband had been killed in the attack.
"When I saw them, my daughter’s foot was crushed, and she had other holes in her body," she said.
Another resident who arrived after the explosion said she saw a woman clutching her child.
"The explosion had taken off the baby’s two feet,” he said.
Gorkowski said that Vectus' operations with the task force in Haiti had become "more and more discriminant" as time has passed and said its efforts against gangs had been a "considerable success."
"It looks like they've killed 17 children and 43 adults who were not associated with any criminal group," Castro responded. "Certainly we would expect more discrimination or discernment than that."
According to a report from the UN mission in Haiti, the killing of civilians by drones in the country has continued. Between January and March 2026, drones killed or injured at least 69 more people who were not found to be gang members, including five children.
During the first quarter of 2026, security-force operations killed 1,149 people and injured 454. Among those casualties, 196 people unaffiliated with gangs were killed, and 192 were injured—making up about 24% of the total casualties.
It is unclear what involvement Vectus may have had with non-drone-related attacks. According to a UN report in March, Vectus has also been involved in task force attacks involving "helicopter gunfire."
A State Department official told Reuters that because they are foreign government contractors, US citizens working for Vectus were not required to disclose their activities, and the US has had no oversight over the group's operations.
"Private military contractors like Vectus Global are putting innocent Haitians at risk," Castro said on Tuesday. "I will continue to conduct oversight of these operations and demand congressional scrutiny."