United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ugandan national Michael Katungi Mpweire, 45, made an initial appearance in federal court today on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms, including machineguns and destructive devices, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization following his extradition to the United States from the Republic of Uganda.

As alleged in the indictment, since at least September 2022, Katungi, Bulgarian national Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo, and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga conspired to illegally supply military-grade weaponry to Mexican drug cartels, and in particular, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most violent and prolific transnational criminal organizations. The weaponry included machineguns, rocket launchers, grenades, night vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, and anti-aircraft weapons.

The defendants allegedly believed that the CJNG intended to use these weapons in furtherance of the illegal trafficking of large shipments of cocaine into the United States. On Feb. 20, 2025, the CJNG was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. Arms sales to transnational criminal organizations like the CJNG are prohibited by virtually every country.

In a series of meetings with individuals claiming to represent the CJNG, Mirchev allegedly agreed to arrange, coordinate, and participate in illegal arms transactions while avoiding detection by international and U.S. law enforcement. Mirchev allegedly recruited Asumo to corruptly obtain an End-User Certificate (EUC) from a nation that would falsely claim a different end-user for the weapons. Asumo, Katungi, and Mwapinga allegedly obtained an EUC from the United Republic of Tanzania authorizing the importation of AK-47s. As a test shipment, Mirchev and others then exported 50 AK-47 automatic assault rifles and accompanying magazines and ammunition from Bulgaria, using the EUC allegedly provided by Asumo, Katungi, and Mwapinga, and intending that the weapons were actually received by the CJNG.

The defendants allegedly continued to conspire to supply drug cartels with even more weaponry, potentially including surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft drones, and the ZU-23 anti-aircraft weapon system. Mirchev allegedly created a list of weaponry for the CJNG totaling approximately 53.7 million Euros (approximately $58 million U.S.). Asumo, Katungi, and Mwapinga allegedly agreed to again provide arms control documents designed to obscure that these weapons were intended for the CJNG.

According to court records, Mirchev was previously implicated in supplying arms to Viktor Bout,  who was convicted at trial of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals, conspiring to kill U.S. officers and employees, conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization in case 1:08-cr-365 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mirchev was arrested by Spanish authorities in Madrid on April 8, 2025, and extradited to the United States on March 19. Asumo and Mwapinga pled guilty on July 23 and Sept. 9 respectively to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Asumo is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4; Mwapinga is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13, 2027.

If convicted, Katungi faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Theophani K. Stamos, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Frank Tarentino, Associate Chief of Operations of the Drug Enforcement Administration, made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the DEA’s Special Operations Division - Bilateral Investigations Unit with assistance from the U.S. Department of War. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided invaluable assistance in securing extraditions of the defendants, working in cooperation with the DEA Attaché to U.S. Embassies in Accra, Nairobi, and Kampala and key partners, including the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice of Ghana, the Ghana Police Service, Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission; the Ministry of Justice of Spain and the Spanish Guardia Civil; the Government of Morocco, including the Moroccan Direction Générale de la Surete National (DGSN- National Police), and the Moroccan Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST); and the Government of Uganda, including the Ugandan Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony T. Aminoff, Edgardo J. Rodriguez, and Luke Albi are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Washington, D.C., comprises agents and officers from the DEA, FBI; Homeland Security Investigations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Diplomatic Security Service; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Transportation Security Administration Federal Air Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Enforcement and Removal Operations; and Washington Baltimore HIDTA, with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:25-CR-102.

An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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