Ugandan Official Extradited to U.S. on Charges of Arms Smuggling to Mexican Cartels
Katungi Michael Mpeirwe, a former confidant of Uganda's army chief, has been extradited to the United States to face charges related to an alleged plot to supply weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Washington announced in July that Mpeirwe and three other suspects—a Bulgarian, Kenyan, and Tanzanian—were charged with conspiring to provide approximately $54 million worth of weaponry. The alleged arsenal included machine guns, rocket launchers, anti-personnel mines, surface-to-air missiles, drones, and anti-aircraft guns, intended for groups such as the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). Mpeirwe, who is also a former military intelligence officer and diplomat, was arrested in Kampala on June 27 and his extradition was confirmed by the commissioner general of prisons in Uganda, Johnson Byabashaija. This development follows a judicial announcement from Uganda at the end of last month indicating that his extradition was imminent.