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- Japanese Yakuza leader pleads guilty to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials
Japanese Yakuza leader pleads guilty to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials
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Takeshi Ebisawa, a 60-year-old member of the Japanese yakuza, has pleaded guilty to several charges related to trafficking nuclear materials and narcotics. The charges against him include conspiring to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar, as well as attempting to sell the materials to someone he believed was an Iranian general.
The (US) laboratory determined that the isotope composition of the plutonium found in the Nuclear Samples is weapons-grade, meaning that the plutonium, if produced in sufficient quantities, would be suitable for use in a nuclear weapon.
At the same time, he worked to send massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy-duty weaponry such as surface-to-air missiles to be used on battlefields in Burma.
As he admitted in federal court today, Takeshi Ebisawa brazenly trafficked nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Burma (Myanmar).
Today's plea should serve as a stark reminder to those who imperil our national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium and other dangerous materials on behalf of organized criminal syndicates that the Department of Justice will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
This case demonstrates DEA's unparalleled ability to dismantle the world's largest criminal networks.
sources
perspectives
- 1.Nuclear Weapons
- 2.Iran Foreign Policy
- 3.Organized crime
- 4.Money Laundering
- 5.Nuclear Power
- 6.Japanese Politics
