Takeshi Ebisawa, a 60-year-old alleged leader of Japan’s Yakuza crime syndicate, pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar. Ebisawa entered the plea in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, according to reports.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and the potential for life behind bars. Sentencing is scheduled for April 9.
According to prosecutors, Ebisawa conspired to traffic weapons-grade nuclear materials, including uranium and plutonium. He allegedly planned to sell these materials to fund a weapons deal for an unnamed ethnic insurgent group operating in Myanmar.
Evidence presented in court included photographs of the materials alongside Geiger counters registering radiation levels, as well as seized samples confirmed by U.S. federal laboratories to contain weapons-grade isotopes.
The indictment also alleged Ebisawa sought to acquire heavy weaponry, such as surface-to-air missiles, for armed insurgents in Myanmar.
In addition to the nuclear materials conspiracy, Ebisawa admitted to attempting to distribute 500 kilograms of heroin and 500 kilograms of methamphetamine in the United States. He also sought to launder $100,000 in purported drug proceeds from New York to Tokyo.
Court documents detailed his efforts to use narcotics sales to further fund weapons transactions.
Ebisawa was apprehended during a Drug Enforcement Administration operation with assistance from Thai authorities, in April 2022.
