A Japanese crime syndicate leader has admitted to plotting the sale of weapons-grade nuclear material from Myanmar to Iran, uncovering a web of organised crime spanning Asia.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to trafficking uranium and plutonium in a case that links Japanese criminal networks to Myanmar’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Myanmar Militia Supplies Nuclear Materials
The nuclear material came from an unnamed insurgent group mining uranium in Myanmar, where civil war has raged since the military ousted the elected government in February 2021. The conflict has turned the resource-rich country into a haven for transnational crime.
To prove the authenticity of his nuclear goods, Ebisawa sent photos showing rocky substances next to Geiger counters measuring radiation. One of his associates claimed they had more than 2,000 kilograms of Thorium-232 and over 100 kilograms of uranium concentrate powder, known as ‘yellowcake’.
Tests at a US federal laboratory confirmed the samples contained weapons-grade plutonium suitable for nuclear weapons.
How US Agents Trapped the Yakuza
The Drug Enforcement Administration spent years building their case. They caught Ebisawa through an elaborate sting where agents posed as contacts of an Iranian general. The yakuza boss wanted £6.85 million for the nuclear material. He also tried to buy surface-to-air missiles, M60 machine guns, and AK-47 rifles.
The operation reached its peak in February 2022 at a hotel in Phuket, Thailand. There, Ebisawa’s team showed nuclear material samples to an undercover US agent. Thai police seized these materials and gave them to US officials, who confirmed their weapons-grade status.
Inside Japan’s Shrinking Mob Empire
The yakuza have lost power in Japan, with membership falling to 20,400 in 2023 – just one-third of their size twenty years ago. New laws block gang members from basic services like bank accounts, apartment rentals, and mobile phones.
Yet Ebisawa’s network still stretched across Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Beyond nuclear materials, he admitted to selling heroin and methamphetamine in New York. His operation moved drug money between New York and Tokyo through hidden channels.
Iran’s Quest for Nuclear Material
Iran has long used global networks to bypass international sanctions, including ties with crime groups and outlaw states. During its 1980s war with Iraq, Iran found unusual paths to buy weapons while facing international isolation.
U.S. prosecutors have set Ebisawa’s sentencing for April 9. He could spend life in prison after pleading guilty to six criminal counts.
“This case proves our ability to break up the world’s largest criminal networks,” said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration leader Anne Milgram. Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y Kim called the case a stark warning to those who endanger national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium.
Nuclear Smuggling Precedents
Since the end of the Cold War, several notable cases of nuclear material smuggling have been reported.
One occurred in 1994 when German police arrested three individuals attempting to sell 363 grams of plutonium-239. Another 2003 case involved the seizure of nearly 17 pounds of highly enriched uranium in Georgia, believed to be from an old Soviet stockpile.
More recently, in 2011, Moldovan police captured a group trying to sell nuclear material, which turned out to be uranium. The discovery of weapons-grade plutonium moving through Myanmar’s armed groups shows how civil wars create openings for nuclear smuggling.
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