Kenyan national, three others indicted in US for allegedly arming Mexican drug cartel

Elisha Odhiambo Asumo has been indicted in the United States for allegedly conspiring to supply military-grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels. (Photo: Courtesy)

By Lucy Mumbi
Monday, August 11, 2025

The arms involved included machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, night vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines and anti-aircraft weapons.

A Kenyan national and other foreigners have been indicted in the United States for allegedly conspiring to supply military-grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels.

According to the indictment, the defendants coordinated a scheme to illegally export advanced arms, disguising the shipments with fraudulent documents to avoid detection by international authorities.

More To Read

Elisha Odhiambo Asumo of Kenya, alongside Ugandans Michael Katungi Mpeirwe and Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, as well as Tanzanian Subiro Osmund Mwapinga, stand accused of plotting to supply weapons to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most violent and prolific transnational criminal organisations.

The arms involved included machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, night vision equipment, sniper rifles, anti-personnel mines and anti-aircraft weapons.

The indictment states that the defendants were aware that the CJNG planned to use these weapons to support the illegal trafficking of large cocaine shipments into the United States. On February 20, 2025, the CJNG was officially designated a Foreign Terrorist Organisation under the Immigration and Nationality Act and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.

In the course of the scheme, Mirchev allegedly engaged with individuals claiming to represent the CJNG and agreed to arrange and participate in arms transactions while evading detection by law enforcement. Mirchev recruited Asumo to corruptly obtain an End-User Certificate (EUC) from a nation that would falsely state a different end-user for the weapons. Asumo then recruited Mpeirwe, who brought in Mwapinga. Together, the trio secured an EUC from Tanzania authorising the importation of AK-47 rifles.

Using the fraudulent EUC, Mirchev and his associates exported a test shipment of 50 AK-47 automatic rifles with magazines and ammunition from Bulgaria, intending for the cartel to receive the weapons. The documents further note that the conspiracy allegedly extended to supplying even more sophisticated arms, potentially including surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft drones and the LU-23 anti-aircraft system.

“Mirchev allegedly created a list of weaponry for the CJNG totalling approximately 53.7 million Euros (approximately $58 million). Asumo, Mpeirwe, and Mwapinga allegedly agreed to again provide arms control documents designed to obscure that these weapons were intended for the CJNG,” reads the documents.

Court records also reveal Mirchev’s previous involvement in supplying arms to Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer. Bout was found guilty in a US court for conspiring to kill US nationals and officers, exporting anti-aircraft missiles, and supporting designated terrorist organisations.

Mirchev was arrested by Spanish authorities in Madrid on April 8 and awaits extradition to the United States. On the same day, Moroccan authorities arrested Asumo in Casablanca, who is currently in extradition proceedings. Mwapinga was detained in Accra, Ghana, on April 8 and extradited to the US on July 25. Mpeirwe remains at large.

If found guilty, the defendants face a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, with possible sentences extending to life imprisonment. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge in accordance with US Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors.

The announcement was made by Erik S. Siebert, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Louis A. D’Ambrosio, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Special Operations Division.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs played a key role in securing Mwapinga’s extradition. Their work was supported by the DEA Attaché to the US Embassy in Accra and various Ghanaian agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Justice, the Ghana Police Service, and Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission. The investigation was carried out by the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit, with significant assistance from the Hellenic National Police in Greece.

Assistant US Attorneys Anthony T. Aminoff and Edgardo J. Rodriguez are prosecuting the case.

The indictment forms part of Operation Take Back America, a comprehensive initiative by the Department of Justice to combat illegal immigration, dismantle cartels and transnational criminal organisations, and protect communities from violent crime.