NEW YORK – A high-ranking member of the Yakuza, Takeshi Ebisawa, has been charged with a conspiracy to traffic nuclear materials from Burma to other countries, including the belief that they would be used by Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, federal prosecutors in New York announced Wednesday. The accused gangster and his confederates allegedly showed samples of nuclear materials in Thailand to an undercover agent from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker with access to an Iranian general, prosecutors said.
The Yakuza leader is accused of brazenly trafficking nuclear material, believing it would be used to develop a nuclear weapons program. Ebisawa and his co-defendant, a Thai national named Somphop Singhasiri, were previously charged in April 2022 with international narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. The new charges allege that Ebisawa orchestrated large-scale narcotics and weapons trafficking, and his criminal network extends through Asia, Europe, and the United States.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan stated that Ebisawa, 60, and Singhasiri, 61, are scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges in Manhattan federal court. It is alleged that Ebisawa attempted to sell 50 metric tons of uranium and thorium for $6.85 million, and even negotiated for the purchase of deadly weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, M60 machine guns, AK-47s, and armor-piercing ammunition.
The indictment also revealed that Ebisawa’s criminal activities included large-scale narcotics and weapons trafficking, and his international criminal network extends through Asia, Europe, and the United States, among other places. The accused faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison if convicted. Singhasiri is also charged with narcotics importation conspiracy and conspiracy to possess firearms, facing a similar maximum possible sentence of life in prison.
The Department of Justice alleges that Ebisawa was the central figure in a plot to funnel American weapons to ethnic militias in Myanmar in exchange for heroin and meth. The charges against him include narcotics importation, money laundering, and conspiracy to acquire surface to air missiles. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison. The DOJ also revealed that the U.S. nuclear forensic laboratory later analyzed the samples and confirmed that they contained uranium and weapons-grade plutonium. This is a developing story, please check back for updates.