MANHATTAN, NY – Takeshi Ebisawa, a reputed leader of the Japanese Yakuza, is facing charges from U.S. authorities for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to smuggle nuclear materials from Southeast Asia to Iran.
The charges detail that Ebisawa presented samples of the nuclear materials to an undercover agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who was posing as a drug and arms trafficker with links to Iran. These materials, believed to have been smuggled from Myanmar to Thailand, were later confiscated and found to contain uranium and weapons-grade plutonium.
Anne Milgram, the DEA’s chief officer, expressed her outrage at Ebisawa and his associates for their alleged involvement in the trafficking of narcotics, arms, and nuclear materials. She stated her belief that they fully expected Iran to use these materials in the creation of nuclear weapons.
Prosecutors claim that the nuclear materials originated from an anonymous leader of an ethnic insurgent group in Myanmar, who had been mining uranium in the nation. Allegedly, Ebisawa suggested that the insurgent leader sell the uranium through him to finance the acquisition of weapons from an Iranian general.
A U.S. federal lab analyzed the samples provided by the insurgent leader and confirmed the presence of uranium, thorium, and plutonium. The plutonium was identified as being weapons-grade, indicating it could be used in the fabrication of a nuclear weapon.
Ebisawa, 60, was among four individuals apprehended in Manhattan in April 2022 during a DEA sting operation. He has been held in custody pending trial and is one of two defendants named in an updated indictment. Ebisawa is facing charges including international trafficking of nuclear materials, conspiracy to commit that crime, and several other counts.
The defendants are due to make their first court appearance in a federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.