The United States Justice Department has indicted an alleged defendant The Japanese mafia leader Takeshi Ebisawaof conspiring to traffic in nuclear materials by attempting to sell uranium and plutonium to Iranian authorities that could be used to build an atomic bomb, the BBC reported.
Ebisawa had already been charged with arms and drug trafficking in April 2022 along with an accomplice of Thai nationality. You can now faces life imprisonment if he is found guilty of the latest charges.
According to U.S. authorities, Ebisawa, a prominent member of the Japanese Yakuza Mafia who is being held in a Brooklyn prison, is a high-ranking figure in the Japanese organized crime syndicate known as Yakuza, with a history of operations in Sri Lanka. Myanmar, Thailand and the United States.
The US Justice Department said Ebisawa and his accomplices “showed samples of nuclear materials in Thailand” to an undercover US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent posing as a drug and arms trafficker with ties to an Iranian general.
The nuclear samples from Myanmar were confiscated by Thai authorities and handed over to American researchers. A US laboratory confirmed that the material contained weapons-grade uranium and plutoniumaccording to BBC.
Prosecutors also accuse Ebisawa of attempting to acquire large quantities of military weapons on behalf of an unspecified rebel group in Myanmar. This arsenal included surface-to-air missiles, assault rifles, sniper rifles and machine gunsRockets of different calibers and various tactical equipment.
“It is frightening to imagine what the consequences would have been had these efforts been successful.”“And the Department of Justice will hold accountable those who traffic in these materials and endanger United States national security and international stability,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olden said in a statement.
In February 2020, reportedly Ebisawa He contacted the DEA agent to sell him nuclear materials. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he stated via encrypted communications that uranium was “not good for your health.”
In September of that year, Ebisawa allegedly emailed the undercover DEA agent a letter with the name of a mining company. He offered to sell 50 tons of uranium and thorium for $6.85 million.
Prosecutors also say he sent photos showing “dark rock material” with one Geiger counterwhich is used to measure radiation levels.
Ebisawa is now charged with, among other things, conspiracy to commit international trafficking in nuclear materials, conspiracy to import narcotics, conspiracy to acquire, transfer and possess anti-aircraft missiles and money laundering.
His accomplice in the case, Thai national Somphop Singhasiri, is charged with drug and weapons possession.