The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has remanded former African Union policy adviser Michael Katungi Mpeirwe to Luzira Prison after his arrest in connection with an extradition request by the United States government. Katungi was produced before Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa on Monday evening following a warrant of arrest issued on June 23, 2026, to secure his appearance as Uganda commences extradition proceedings.
According to court records, the United States is seeking Katungi’s surrender to face criminal charges contained in an indictment issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division. The indictment alleges that Katungi, together with Bulgarian national Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga, conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, allegedly knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the drugs would be unlawfully imported into the United States.
The four are also accused of conspiring to possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, as well as conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation. Representing the Ugandan government, State Attorneys Adrian Asingwire and Joan Keko told the court that the extradition request is based on the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, under which Uganda is obliged to process requests for the surrender of suspects wanted to face prosecution abroad.
When invited to respond, Katungi personally informed the court that he opposed being extradited to the United States. His legal team, led by Samuel Kakande and assisted by Ramadhan Akatwijuka and Musa Nsamba, also objected to the proceedings, indicating that they intend to raise preliminary objections challenging both the extradition process and its legality.
The defence argued that neither Katungi nor his lawyers had been supplied with the documents the State intends to rely on, denying them an opportunity to adequately prepare their response. They also applied for his release on bail pending determination of the extradition request. However, State Attorney Adrian Asingwire opposed both applications, arguing that the defence had misunderstood the nature of the proceedings. He submitted that the arrest warrant had merely been issued to secure Katungi’s attendance before court and that the merits of the extradition request had not yet been considered.
According to the prosecution, Katungi’s first appearance was intended to establish whether he consented to extradition or intended to challenge the request. Since he objected, the State asked the court to fix an early hearing date to enable it to formally file and argue the extradition application. The prosecution further argued that applications for bail and disclosure were premature because formal extradition proceedings had not yet commenced. In response, defence lawyer Musa Nsamba maintained that no formal extradition application had been filed and argued that the State had relied solely on expert proceedings to obtain the arrest warrant. He urged the court to release Katungi unconditionally.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Kidasa held that Katungi had been lawfully brought before court pursuant to a valid warrant issued to secure his attendance for the commencement of extradition proceedings. She declined to grant bail at this preliminary stage, directing the prosecution to file the formal extradition application by July 1, 2026, while the defence was ordered to file its response by July 7. The matter was adjourned to July 10, 2026, for hearing of the extradition application, and Katungi was remanded to Luzira Prison until then.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, investigations indicate that from at least September 2022, Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, together with Elisha Odhiambo Asumo, Michael Katungi Mpeirwe and Subiro Osmund Mwapinga, conspired to supply military-grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels, particularly the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most violent transnational criminal organisations.
The alleged weapons included machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, night-vision equipment, anti-aircraft weapons and surface-to-air missile systems. U.S. authorities allege that the suspects believed the CJNG intended to use the weapons to facilitate large-scale cocaine trafficking into the United States. On February 20, 2025, the CJNG was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organisation under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.
According to the indictment, Mirchev allegedly recruited Asumo to obtain a fraudulent End-User Certificate (EUC) from an African country to conceal the intended destination of the weapons. Asumo is then alleged to have recruited Katungi, who in turn recruited Mwapinga. Together, prosecutors allege, they secured an End-User Certificate from Tanzania authorising the importation of AK-47 rifles. Using that documentation, Mirchev and others allegedly exported a test shipment of 50 AK-47 assault rifles, magazines and ammunition from Bulgaria, intending that the weapons would ultimately reach the CJNG.
The indictment further alleges that the group later planned to supply significantly larger quantities of weaponry valued at approximately €53.7 million (about US$58 million), including anti-aircraft systems and drones, while using falsified arms control documentation to disguise the true end-user. Court records also indicate that Mirchev had previously been implicated in supplying arms to convicted international arms trafficker Viktor Bout.
Katungi previously served as Commissioner for External Affairs and a member of the Central Committee of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), the political organisation led by General Muhoozi Kainerugaba. He was relieved of his duties in the organisation last year after investigations into the matter commenced. He was arrested over the weekend following the issuance of the arrest warrant-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
