Britney Spears’ ‘Incredibly Shady’ New Crew Has Been ‘Living Off’ Troubled Pop Star’s ‘Generosity’ (Exclusive)

Concern for Britney Spears continues to grow after a bombshell report revealed that she was spending time with a troubling new crowd prior to her DUI arrest.

“The crew Britney is surrounding herself with right now is incredibly shady,” a source tells the National Enquirer. “A lot of these guys have criminal histories. Apparently, there are known drug dealers in the mix and other types that want to make a buck off her.”

As the Enquirer previously reported, there were fears that the “Toxic” singer, 44, could wind up totally broke before she sold the rights to her music catalog to Primary Wave in February for an estimated $70 million after taxes.

“These are exactly the type of characters her family always feared would take advantage of her and drag her back to rock bottom,” the source continues. “Unfortunately, she’s become very dependent on these creeps and they’ve been living off her generosity, with huge amounts of money being spent keeping them around.”

After news of Spears’ DUI arrest broke on Thursday, March 5, a representative for the Princess of Pop told the Enquirer: “Hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life.”

Loved ones hope so, too.

“It’s plain as day that she’s being exploited and manipulated, but it’s not as simple as just showing up and removing them because the situation has become intimidating,” admits the source. “These are dangerous people. There’s real fear about what could happen if they try to intervene without some kind of protection.”

Still, they’re going to try.

“At this point the talk among those closest to her is about organizing a proper rescue operation to get Britney away from this crowd,” the source reveals. “Everyone agrees the environment she’s in now is dangerous and completely unsustainable.”