Michael Katungi Appears in US Court After Extradition From Uganda

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Ugandan national Michael Katungi Mpeirwe appeared before a United States federal court on Saturday, hours after being extradited from Uganda to face charges arising from an alleged international cocaine-trafficking and military weapons conspiracy linked to a Mexican drug cartel.

The US Department of Justice confirmed Katungi’s extradition and initial court appearance before the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. Katungi, 45, faces charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms — including machine guns and destructive devices — in furtherance of drug trafficking, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organisation.

“If convicted, Katungi faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison,” the Justice Department said. His appearance confirmed reports that he was recently flown out of Uganda under the escort of several US officials following the completion of extradition proceedings in Kampala.

Katungi has not been convicted, and the indictment remains an accusation that US prosecutors must prove in court. US authorities allege that, from at least September 2022, Katungi conspired with Bulgarian national Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga to supply military-grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels, particularly the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG.

The alleged weapons included machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, night-vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines and anti-aircraft systems. “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,” the Justice Department said.

Washington designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organisation and a specially designated global terrorist entity on February 20, 2025. Prosecutors allege that Mirchev met people claiming to represent CJNG and agreed to organise arms transactions while evading international and US law-enforcement agencies.

Mirchev allegedly recruited Asumo to obtain an end-user certificate falsely identifying the intended recipient of the weapons. US prosecutors say Asumo, Katungi and Mwapinga subsequently obtained a certificate from Tanzania authorising the importation of AK-47 rifles. Using the document, the group allegedly arranged the export of a test consignment of 50 AK-47 automatic rifles, magazines and ammunition from Bulgaria, intending that the weapons would ultimately be delivered to CJNG.

The accused allegedly pursued a larger consignment that could have included surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft drones and ZU-23 anti-aircraft weapons. “Mirchev allegedly created a list of weaponry for the CJNG totalling approximately €53.7 million,” equivalent to about $58 million or Shs216 billion, the department said.

Prosecutors allege that Katungi and the two other African defendants agreed to provide additional arms-control documents intended to conceal the cartel as the weapons’ true recipient. Mirchev, whom US court records previously linked to convicted international arms trafficker Viktor Bout, was arrested in Madrid in April 2025 and extradited to the United States on March 19, 2026.

Asumo and Mwapinga have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Asumo is due to be sentenced on November 4, while Mwapinga’s sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2027. Katungi’s extradition followed a protracted legal battle in Uganda after his arrest in Kampala in June.

On August 28, Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa found that the legal requirements for extradition had been met and committed him to prison pending a surrender decision by Justice Minister Norbert Mao. The court rejected Katungi’s challenges to the process, including arguments concerning diplomatic immunity, the authority of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the procedure through which the US request was handled.

Mao subsequently issued a surrender warrant on September 1 directing the Commissioner General of Prisons to “release and deliver” Katungi to an official authorised by Washington. “The authorised representative of the Government of the United States of America receiving Michael Katungi Mpeirwe pursuant to this warrant shall be entitled to receive, hold in custody and convey him from Uganda into the jurisdiction of the United States of America,” Mao said.

He also directed Ugandan authorities to “facilitate the lawful transfer and surrender” of Katungi. The US Justice Department acknowledged assistance from Uganda’s Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in securing the extradition.

The case was investigated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Operations Division with assistance from the US Department of War and authorities in Uganda, Spain, Morocco and Ghana.