Smuggling by signature: How Bulgaria’s shadowy arms trade and corruption in East Africa channelled weapons towards Mexico’s deadliest cartel

In July 2025, US prosecutors in Virginia unsealed an indictment accusing Petar Dimitrov Mirchev, a Bulgarian national, of conspiring with East African associates to supply a powerful Mexican drug syndicate with weapons ranging from small arms to battle …
Smuggling by signature: How Bulgaria’s shadowy arms trade and corruption in East Africa channelled weapons towards Mexico’s deadliest cartel