A Ugandan national has been indicted in the United States over a $58 million conspiracy to supply a Mexican drug cartel with military-grade weapons. Prosecutors allege that Ugandan national Michael Katungi Mpeirwe conspired to provide the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with extensive military-grade weaponry.
The indictment claims the conspiracy involved supplying the cartel with machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, night vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, and anti-aircraft weapons.
Investigators claim the group worked to secure falsified arms control documents to disguise the weapons’ true destination from authorities and other international bodies. A test consignment of fifty AK-47 assault rifles was reportedly shipped from Bulgaria in what was described as an initial phase of the illegal international conspiracy.
The Ugandan national is effectively co-accused alongside Bulgarian national Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo, and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga. Plans for this alleged criminal conspiracy reportedly extended to include surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft drones, and the powerful ZU-23 anti-aircraft weapon system.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was formally designated as a foreign terrorist organization in February, which makes arms sales to the group illegal under both US and international law. If convicted on all charges, each of the defendants faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a possible sentence of up to life in US prison.