Yakuza Leader Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Nuclear Materials and Narcotics
Takeshi Ebisawa admitted to selling weapons-grade plutonium and narcotics, laundering money, and brokering arms deals with undercover agents posing as buyers.
- Takeshi Ebisawa, a 60-year-old Japanese Yakuza leader, pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to six charges, including trafficking nuclear materials, narcotics, and firearms.
- Ebisawa attempted to sell weapons-grade plutonium and uranium sourced from Myanmar to an undercover agent posing as an Iranian general for use in a nuclear weapons program.
- The investigation revealed Ebisawa's involvement in a global criminal network spanning Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and the United States, facilitating large-scale drug and weapons transactions.
- He also conspired to trade heroin and methamphetamine for surface-to-air missiles and other heavy weaponry intended for ethnic insurgent groups in Myanmar.
- Ebisawa faces a potential life sentence, with sentencing scheduled for April 9, after a multinational effort involving law enforcement agencies from the U.S., Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia successfully dismantled his operations.
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