Bulgarian Arms Trafficker & Ugandan Government Official Charged with Supplying Weapons to CJNG

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Dimitrov Mirchev, a prolific arms trafficker from Bulgaria, who once supplied weapons to Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, is said to be the head of a weapons trafficking network that supplied the CJNG military-grade using falsified documents in Africa. 

The group also met with cartel members in Europe and Africa to conspire to provide the CJNG with machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, night vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, and anti-aircraft weapons. 

The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled the indictment against four foreigners, led by one from Bulgaria and three from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, accused of drug trafficking and providing military weapons to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

CJNG Weapons Deals

The court file alleges that since at least September 2022, Peter Dimitrov Mirchev of Bulgaria, Elisha Odhiambo Asumo of Kenya, Michael Katungi Mpeirwe of Uganda, and Subiro Osmund Mwapinga of Tanzania provided the CJNG with weapons including military level arsenals.

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.

Leading the operation was Mirchev, a veteran arms trafficker based in Bulgaria, with an estimated 25 years of experience in illegal weapons sales.

Mirchev once supplied arms to notorious trafficker Viktor Bout.

According to court records, Mirchev was previously implicated in supplying arms to Viktor Bout, who was arrested following a DEA operation in 2008, and convicted of conspiring to kill US nationals and law enforcement by supplying weapons to narco-terrorists, conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the FARC. Bout was released from prison in the US and sent back to Russia in late 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange between the two countries.

The Bulgarian maintained a list of military weapons requested by the CJNG, valued at approximately $58 million.

Mirchev has became known as the "Bulgarian Viktor Bout." Mirchev also allegedly coordinated meetings with representatives claiming to be from the CJNG.

Among the military grade weapons these four suspects allegedly delivered to the CJNG, the Department of Justice highlights machine guns, bazooka launchers, grenades, night vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, and anti-aircraft weapons.

As proof of shipment, Dimitrob Mirchev and others exported 50 AK-47 assault rifles from Bulgaria, accompanied by magazines and ammunition.

The Bulgarian recruited Asumo, Mpeirwe, and Mwapinga to obtain official weapons import certificates known as EUCs (End User Certificates) issued to them in the United Republic of Tanzania for the acquisition of AK-47 rifles.

Asumo obtained a DVP, purportedly signed by the permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Defence National Services of Tanzania, reflecting that the Tanzanian military had received the weapons, even though it had not. 

Payments for these forged documents flowed through Kenyan bank accounts linked to Asumo, with tens of thousands of dollars wired from US bank accounts. The DEA has located various payments linked to this first batch of weapons, including one made in November 2023 by Mirchev of nearly $38,000 from a U.S. bank account to that of a Bulgarian arms manufacturer.

Following this shipment, Mirchev discussed plans to supply the cartel with more devastating weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft drones, and the ZU-23 anti-aircraft system, capable of firing explosive rounds designed to shoot down helicopters and other low-flying targets.

“In and around April 2024, Katungi attended a meeting in London regarding the planned arms deal. He offered to illegally obtain firearms for future sale to the CJNG as part of a planned arms deal between the governments of Russia and Uganda.

Katungi also explained that he could "use his connections throughout Africa and the Ugandan government to easily obtain EUCs for future arms deal in exchange for a 2% commission.”

With assistance from Tanzania’s Mwapinga, they allegedly forged official documents falsely stating that the shipped weapons were destined for African militaries, yet they were intended for CJNG.

Meetings negotiating the weapons sales were also held in Capetown, South Africa according to the indictment.

Mirchev was arrested in Madrid, Spain on April 8 by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Spanish Civil Guard at the request of the DEA, which had classified him as a “priority target.”

Asumo was arrested that same day in Casablanca by Moroccan authorities, Mwapinga was arrested by Ugandan authorities in Accra and extradited to the United States on July 25, while Mpeirwe remains a fugitive.

Ugandan national Michael Katungi Mpeirwe has denied U.S. charges. Mpeirwe has dismissed the accusations, responding “Ignore with contempt deserved. Mere accusations.”

Katungi served as a policy advisor in the Ugandan government and previously worked as deputy head of mission and security logistics officer with the African Union Commission. 

His government experience and network allegedly enabled him to facilitate illegal arms deals by helping to corruptly obtain official documents known as end-user certificates (EUCs) and delivery verification protocols (DVPs).

Katungi told New Vision Online in an interview on Monday, August 11, 2026, that he had not received any formal information or notification from any official authority regarding the indictment.

“I am unaware of any such proceedings or allegations as reported in the media related to an alleged illegal arms deal. I take all allegations of this nature very seriously and believe in the importance of due process and the presumption of innocence,” he said.

Katungi, a leader in the Patriotic League of Uganda, a civic organisation, argued that without formal notification or details of any such indictment, he was unable to comment further on the specifics of the allegations reported.

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Chief of Defence Forces and chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), has dismissed Michael Katungi Mpeirwe from his positions as Commissioner of External Affairs and Central Committee member following the US indictment.

“I am also compelled to note that a certain narrative appears to be aimed at maligning my reputation,” he said.

Sources DOJ, Proceso, Kenya Insight