Yakuza leader, Takeshi Ebisawa has pled guilty to a fleet of charges in a Manhattan federal court in the United States, including nuclear materials trafficking, narcotics, and weapons charges.
Ebisawa, a notable figure in the Japanese criminal underworld, and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded.
The Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed they had been investigating Ebisawa in connection with large-scale narcotics and weapons trafficking, along with his international network of criminal associates, which spanned Japan, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, and the United States.
The case is being handled by the office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit, with three Assistant U.S. Attorneys leading the prosecution, and Ebisawa has pled guilty to six of the eight counts brought to him.
“As he admitted in federal court today, Takeshi Ebisawa brazenly trafficked nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Burma,” Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim said.
"At the same time, he worked to send massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy-duty weaponry such as surface-to-air missiles to be used on battlefields in Burma and laundered what he believed to be drug money.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said: “Today’s plea should serve as a stark reminder to those who imperil our national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium and other dangerous materials on behalf of organized criminal syndicates that the Department of Justice will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Prosecutors said a judge will determine the sentencing in the case at a later date.