Japanese Yakuza Boss Confesses Guilty Of Smuggling Nuclear Materials From Myanmar

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The leader of a Japanese crime syndicate (Yakuza) charged by the United States (US) authorities for smuggling nuclear material from Myanmar, pleaded guilty.

Takeshi Ebisawa (60) pleaded guilty in a trial at a Manhattan court in New York for conspiring with his partner's network to trade nuclear material, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Myanmar to other countries, the Justice Department said.

Ebisawa also pleaded guilty to the case of international narcotics and weapons trafficking.

In February 2024, US authorities accused the Japanese "yakuza" crime leader of conspiring to trade nuclear material from Myanmar for use by Iran in nuclear weapons.

He was also previously indicted in 2022 on charges of international narcotics trafficking and gun abuses.

"As he admits in federal court today, Takeshi Ebisawa bravely traded nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Burma (Myanmar)," said US Attorney Edward Kim for South District of New York.

At the same time, he is trying to send large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy weaponry such as surface-to-air missiles to be used on the battlefield in Burma and washing what he believes to be drugs. money from New York to Tokyo, "said the US prosecutor.

The Ebisawa plot was detected and stopped through cooperation between authorities in the US, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand.