Mpeirwe, a retired lieutenant was taken into custody by U.S. officials following an extradition order signed by Ugandan Justice Minister Norbert Mao.
The weapons deal allegedly included AK-47s, machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines, drones, and surface-to-air missiles intended to protect the cartel’s drug trafficking routes into the U.S.
Mpeirwe was indicted alongside three other international co-conspirators: Bulgarian arms dealer Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, Kenyan national Elisha Odhiambo Asumo, and Tanzanian national Subiro Osmund Mwapinga.
The group allegedly used falsified documents, including corrupt African defense channels and fake end-user certificates, to bypass international arms controls.
Following his arrest in Kampala in June 2026, a Ugandan court ruled in late August that the legal requirements for his extradition had been satisfied, culminating in his weekend transfer to U.S. authorities for trial in Virginia.
