U.S. court convicts Japanese mafia leader for conspiring to traffic nuclear material to Iran
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A member of Japan's yakuza crime group was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a New York court on Tuesday after being convicted of trafficking nuclear material as well as drugs and weapons. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In:
A member of Japan's yakuza crime group was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a New York court on Tuesday after being convicted of trafficking nuclear material as well as drugs and weapons.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 61, has been jailed since April 2022 on the drug and weapons charges, along with his Thai co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri, following years of investigations by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
In February 2024, he was also accused of trying to sell military-grade nuclear material, along with narcotics including heroin and methamphetamine, to buy weapons including surface-to-air missiles for armed groups in Myanmar.
Prosecutors said Ebisawa didn't know he was communicating in 2021 and 2022 with a confidential source for the DEA along with the source's associate, who posed as an Iranian general. Ebisawa was arrested in April 2022 in Manhattan during a DEA sting.
"After initially offering uranium, Ebisawa proposed to supply the General with 'plutonium' that would be even 'better' and more 'powerful' than uranium for Iran's use," the Justice Department said on Monday.
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A member of Japan's yakuza crime group was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a New York court on Tuesday after being convicted of trafficking nuclear material as well as drugs and weapons. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In:
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