Japanese Yakuza leader charged by US authorities for trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar

Takeshi Ebisawa, a leader of the Yakuza, a Japanese organized crime syndicate, has been indicted by US prosecutors. He is accused of conspiring to traffic nuclear materials including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium from Myanmar to other countries.

This information came from a superseding indictment announcement made on Wednesday. The charges against Takeshi Ebisawa were brought after he and his associates in Thailand allegedly presented samples of nuclear material to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who was pretending to be a narcotics and weapons trafficker.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed in a press release that the US collaborated with Thai authorities to confiscate the nuclear samples, which were later transferred to US law enforcement custody.

The US nuclear forensic laboratory confirmed that the samples contained uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, as per the Department of Justice.

As stated in court documents, Takeshi Ebisawa, aged 60, and co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri, aged 61, were previously charged in April 2022 with international narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. Both are currently under detention. Federal prosecutors emphasized the gravity of the charges against a leader of the Yakuza, a criminal organization with operations in multiple countries worldwide.

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