Yakuza boss confesses trade in myanmar
Yakuza boss confesses trade in myanmar
A suspected leader of the Japanese Yakuza criminal crime organization has guilty of smuggling nuclear material from Myanmar. This was done in the context of a global network that deals with drugs, weapons and money laundering, as the US Ministry of Justice announced.
Details on the undercover examination
In a hidden examination of the US drug control authority DEA in 2021, Takeshi Ebisawa tried to sell materials-including uranium and weapon-capable plutonium-to someone he believed that he was an Iranian general for an nuclear weapon program, the authority explained in a press release .
legal situation and indictment
The 60-year-old Japanese guilty on Wednesday in a New York court to have worked with a network of accomplices to smuggle nuclear material from Myanmar. He also confessed international drug trafficking and weapon offenses.
In 2021, Ebisawa informed a hidden Dea agent that an unmanageable leader of a rebel group in Myanmar nuclear's material could sell the fictional Iranian general to finance a large weapon purchase, according to the indictment.
arrest and further charges
A year later, Ebisawa was used by the US authorities Collect in connection with the alleged sale to Iran.
The effects of the acts
"As he admitted to court today, Takeshi Ebisawa smuggled nuklear material, including weapon-capable plutonium, from Myanmar," said Edward Y. Kim, the incumbent US prosecutor for the southern district of New York. "At the same time, he tried to deliver large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in order to preserve heavy weapons such as floor air rockets for use in Myanmar and what he thought was to wash from New York to Tokyo."
CNN has contacted Ebisawa's lawyers to get a comment on the case.
Myanmar and the illegal drug trafficking
Myanmar, which was previously known as Burma, has been involved in a civil war since February 2021 when the military fell the democratically elected government. The country is rich in natural resources such as rare earths and other materials that are of crucial importance for civilian and military technologies, including uranium. An important producer of drugs remains and has been attracting transnational crime for a long time.
an international network
During his business with the hidden Dea agent, Ebisawa sent pictures that showed "solid substances with Geiger counters for measuring radiation", as well as pages of analyzes that "indicated the presence of the radioactive elements thorium and uranium", as can be seen from the indictment.
The Ministry of Justice announced that Ebisawa "unexpectedly exposed a hidden Dea agent ... who, as a drug and arms dealer, introduced themselves to Ebisawa's international network of criminal accomplices, which extended over Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the United States, for large-scale drug and arms transactions arrange. "
penalties and final comments
International trade in nuclear material can be punished with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Ebisawa was called the leader of Yakuza, the notorious network of Japanese criminal families.
"This case shows the incomparable ability of the DEA to smash the world's largest criminal networks," said Anne Milgram, the administrator of the DEA. "The confession today should be a clear memory of those who endanger our national security by smuggling weapon -capable plutonium and other dangerous materials for organized criminal organizations. The Ministry of Justice will fully hold them responsible," added Matthew G. Olsen, deputy general prosecutor of the Department of National Security.
cnns Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.