A Utah high school football player, his friend, and a convicted drug trafficker are an unlikely trio swept up in a failed coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo, stuck in the country thanks to a former car dealer.

Christian Malanga, whose website touted his success setting up a car dealership in Utah, is believed to have recruited his son, his son’s friend, and a business associate who moonlighted as a marijuana dealer to help him overthrow the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government.