Justice Department’s National Security Division, alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has issued a superseding indictment against Japanese Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa. The charges detail a complex operation involving the trafficking of nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma (Myanmar) to other nations, notably Iran.
The case against Ebisawa began to take shape in early 2020 when he reportedly approached an undercover DEA agent, who was posing as a trafficker of narcotics and weapons. Ebisawa expressed his intention to sell a “large quantity of nuclear materials.” Over the course of the year, he provided photographic evidence of the materials alongside Geiger counter readings and alleged lab analyses indicating the presence of thorium and uranium.
The operation took a further step when Ebisawa discussed selling the nuclear materials to an individual presented as an Iranian general, intending to support Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Concurrently, Ebisawa expressed interest in acquiring military-grade weapons for an ethnic insurgent group in Burma, planning to fund these purchases through the sale of uranium.
By February 2022, an associate of Ebisawa communicated the availability of over 2,000 kilograms of Thorium-232 and more than 100 kilograms of uranium yellowcake, with the capacity to produce up to five tons of nuclear materials in Burma. Subsequent meetings in Thailand were arranged to advance the transaction, resulting in the seizure of nuclear material samples by Thai authorities and their examination by U.S. law enforcement. A U.S. nuclear forensic laboratory’s analysis confirmed the presence of uranium, thorium, and plutonium in the samples, with the plutonium’s isotope composition being classified as weapons-grade.
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