Overview

• The DOJ indictment names Bulgarian national Peter Mirchev and Africans Elisha Asumo, Michael Mpeirwe and Subiro Mwapinga for conspiring since 2022 to arm the CJNG with machine guns, grenade launchers and anti-aircraft systems.
• Prosecutors say the network exploited a falsified Tanzanian End-User Certificate to export weapons from Bulgaria and conceal their true destination.
• Mirchev was arrested in Madrid and Asumo in Casablanca in April while Mwapinga was detained in Accra and extradited on July 25; Mpeirwe remains at large.
• The defendants face charges of arms trafficking, cocaine distribution conspiracy and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
• The case is part of the DOJ’s Operation Take Back America and highlights US efforts to curb illicit global arms flows fueling cartel violence.