![Japanese yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa pleaded guilty in New York charges of smuggling nuclear materials on 8 January 2025 [Social media/X]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Gg0548IWMAA7yzX-e1736419431515.jpeg?fit=1050%2C700&ssl=1)
A reputed leader of a Japan-based yakuza crime syndicate, Takeshi Ebisawa, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court yesterday to charges of trafficking nuclear materials, weapons and drugs. The charges include conspiring to sell uranium and plutonium from Myanmar, believing that they were destined for Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.
According to AP, prosecutors revealed that the 60-year-old unknowingly dealt with a confidential source for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and an undercover agent posing as an Iranian general between 2020 and 2022. He was arrested in a DEA sting operation in Manhattan in April 2022.
Takeshi Ebisawa planned to sell weapons-grade nuclear material and narcotics from Myanmar, and to purchase military weaponry on behalf of an armed insurgent group. https://t.co/Xv7ux35xHU
— The Irrawaddy (Eng) (@IrrawaddyNews) January 9, 2025
Ebisawa admitted to brokering deals for weapons-grade plutonium, claiming that it was “better” for nuclear arms than uranium. Samples obtained during the investigation were confirmed by a federal lab to contain uranium, thorium and weapons-grade plutonium. The nuclear materials allegedly originated from a Myanmar ethnic insurgent group mining uranium to fund arms purchases.
READ: Iran flexes military muscle as Trump’s return looms over Middle East
In addition to nuclear material trafficking, Ebisawa sought to procure US-made surface-to-air missiles and heavy weaponry for Myanmar insurgents, accepting heroin and methamphetamine as partial payment. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram lauded the operation as evidence of the agency’s ability to dismantle global criminal networks.
The investigation “exposed the shocking depths of international organised crime from trafficking nuclear materials to fuelling the narcotics trade and arming violent insurgents,” she said.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen added, “Today’s plea should serve as a stark reminder to those who imperil our national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium and other dangerous materials on behalf of organised criminal syndicates that the Department of Justice will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Ebisawa faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a possible life sentence. Sentencing is set for 9 April. The case adds to the scrutiny surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran has claimed consistently is solely for peaceful purposes. However, recent hints from Iranian officials about revising the country’s nuclear doctrine come amid strategic setbacks faced by the Axis of Resistance in its struggle against the Israeli occupation state.
READ: Iran’s nuclear programme nearing point of no return, France’s Macron says
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
