Michael Katungi appears in U.S. court on arms trafficking charges

Michael Katungi Mpweire, a 45-year-old Ugandan national, has appeared in a United States federal court following his extradition from Uganda. He faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to possess firearms—such as machine guns and destructive devices—and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

According to the indictment, Katungi and three other foreign nationals—Peter Dimitrov Mirchev of Bulgaria, Elisha Odhiambo Asumo of Kenya, and Subiro Osmund Mwapinga of Tanzania—conspired since at least September 2022 to supply military-grade weaponry to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a violent Mexican transnational criminal organization. The weaponry allegedly included rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, and anti-aircraft weapons.

Prosecutors allege the group intended to provide these weapons to support the CJNG’s illegal trafficking of large cocaine shipments into the United States. The indictment further notes that the CJNG was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under U.S. law in February 2025.