A Ugandan man and three other individuals from Africa and Europe have been indicted on charges of conspiring to illegally supply over $58 million worth of military-grade weapons to a notorious Mexican drug cartel, U.S. authorities announced.
Michael Katungi of Uganda has been charged alongside Peter Dimitrov Mirchev of Bulgaria, Elisha Odhiambo Asumo of Kenya, and Subiro Osmund Mwapinga of Tanzania. According to a federal indictment filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, the group allegedly planned to provide the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) with a vast arsenal that included machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles, and anti-aircraft weapons.
The CJNG has been officially designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
The indictment alleges that the group’s scheme included a test shipment of 50 AK-47 assault rifles and a broader plan to supply advanced weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles. The defendants are also accused of conspiring to distribute cocaine and knowingly supporting the cartel’s drug trafficking operations into the United States.
To conceal the weapons’ true destination, Mirchev allegedly collaborated with the others to obtain falsified End-User Certificates. According to the indictment, Mirchev recruited Asumo, who then brought in Katungi and Mwapinga to help secure a fraudulent certificate from Tanzania for the importation of the AK-47s.
Mirchev—who is reportedly linked to convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout—was arrested in Spain in April and is awaiting extradition. Asumo was arrested in Morocco and is currently undergoing extradition proceedings. Mwapinga was arrested in Ghana and extradited to the United States in July.
Katungi remains at large and could not be reached for comment. However, Ugandan news outlet Chimpreports quoted him denying the allegations, stating, “Ignore with contempt deserved. Mere accusations.”
If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with the possibility of life imprisonment.
