US authorities have charged the leader of a Japanese criminal gang with conspiring to smuggle nuclear materials from Myanmar for use in Iranian nuclear weapons.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, and his co-accused Sompho Singasiri, 61, trafficked drugs, weapons and nuclear materials, “going so far as to provide weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, fully expecting it.” Iran “He's going to use it to make nuclear weapons,” said Anne Milgram, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration.
She added: “This is an exceptional example of the corruption of drug traffickers who operate with complete disregard for human life.”
Some nuclear materials. Photo: US Department of Justice
Photo: US Department of Justice
US officials believe that Ebisawa is a prominent leader of the transnational Yakuza organized crime gang.
Nuclear materials were transferred from Myanmar to Thailand to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent posing as a drug and weapons trafficker who had access to an Iranian general, according to federal officials.
The nuclear material came from an unidentified leader of an “ethnic rebel group” in Myanmar who was mining uranium in the country.
Some nuclear materials. Photo: US Department of Justice
Legal officials allege that Ebisawa suggested the leader sell uranium through him in order to purchase lethal weapons – including the purchase of surface-to-air missiles – from the general.
“It is frightening to imagine the consequences if these efforts succeed,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Olsen said.
Both men were charged in 2022 with international drug trafficking and firearms crimes after a DEA sting operation.
Read more:
A YouTuber and influencer has been jailed for child abuse
A girl died after being buried by sand while digging a hole
Two charged with murder during Super Bowl celebration shooting
The alternative indictment included the most recent charges.
The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.
