One of the leaders of the yakuza, the feared Japanese mafia, who is imprisoned in the United States, was accused in February by the American prosecutor of having tried to sell nuclear material to Iran.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, will answer in American justice for the crimes of conspiring to traffic uranium and plutonium for military use, which, according to US authorities, he believed would be used by the Iranian regime to develop atomic bombs.
Ebisawa was arrested in April 2022, along with three other accomplices, for involvement in drug and weapons trafficking. Last month, Ebisawa received new charges that will see him also tried for international trafficking in nuclear material, money laundering and possession of anti-aircraft missiles.
The investigation that led to Ebisawa's arrest began in 2019, when undercover agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) infiltrated his criminal network, which reportedly operated in several countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The agents posed as drug and arms traffickers who had ties to an Iranian general who had a great interest in purchasing nuclear material for the Islamic regime's weapons program.
American prosecutors said Ebisawa obtained the nuclear material through a leader of a Myanmar rebel group. This leader, whose name was not disclosed, works with uranium mining in the Asian country, which is currently experiencing a civil war. Ebisawa, according to American authorities, had an agreement with this leader, which allowed him to sell the material he mined in exchange for weapons for military use, such as rifles, machine guns and rockets.
According to the US investigation, the yakuza member allegedly sent photos and samples of nuclear material to undercover DEA agents using encrypted messaging applications. In the messages, he even offered nuclear material for millions of dollars and claimed to have access to plutonium, which would be even more “powerful” and “better” for Iran to produce its nuclear weapons.
In 2022, Ebisawa and his associates showed samples of nuclear material to agents at a hotel in Thailand. Such samples were later seized by Thai authorities to be analyzed by a US laboratory, which confirmed that the material actually contained uranium and plutonium for military use, that is, that they could be used to manufacture an atomic bomb.
Prosecutors allege that Ebisawa wanted in exchange for the material to acquire, through undercover DEA agents, large quantities of weapons for military use that would be sent to the Myanmar rebel group responsible for mining the nuclear material. Weapons included surface-to-air missiles, assault and sniper rifles, machine guns, rockets, and a variety of tactical equipment.
“Ebisawa and his associates trafficked drugs, weapons and nuclear material, going so far as to offer military-grade uranium and plutonium, hoping Iran would use it for nuclear weapons,” DEA Director Anne Milgram said in a statement. “This is an extraordinary example of the depravity of drug traffickers, who operate with complete disregard for human life,” she added.
“The defendant is alleged to have brazenly trafficked weapons-grade uranium and plutonium-containing material from Myanmar to other countries,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “He [Takeshi Ebisawa] He did this believing that the material would be used in the development of a nuclear weapons program, and at the same time he was negotiating the purchase of lethal weapons. It is impossible to exaggerate the seriousness of this conduct. I want to thank the career prosecutors in my office and our law enforcement partners for ensuring that the defendant now faces justice in an American courtroom.”
The charges Ebisawa faces could result in him being imprisoned for life. The other defendant in the case, Somphop Singhasiri, a 61-year-old Thai national, faces drug and weapons charges.
Dangerous weapons in the hands of a calculating group
Little information is known about Ebisawa's life, but American prosecutors have confirmed that he was one of the leaders of the yakuza. This may indicate that the feared Japanese faction may not only have access to, but also help to sell, various nuclear materials in various parts of the world.
The American operation, which also involved other Asian and European countries, revealed the boldness and dangerousness of yakuza criminals, who carry out various illicit activities, such as trafficking in drugs, weapons, people, money laundering and extortion.
“Ebisawa trafficked military-grade uranium- and plutonium-containing material, believing that the material would be used in the development of a nuclear weapons program, and the military-grade plutonium he trafficked, if produced in sufficient quantities, could have been used for that purpose. ,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the outlet Reuters.
“It is frightening to imagine what could have happened if these efforts had been successful. The Department of Justice will hold accountable those who traffic these materials and threaten U.S. national security and international stability,” added Olsen.
The yakuza is a network of criminal organizations that has existed for centuries in Japan. Currently, it is estimated that the organization has a total of around 100,000 members, divided into several groups, the most powerful of which is the Yamaguchi-gumi faction, which it has around 20 thousand members.
The yakuza has a hierarchical and rigid structure, with codes of conduct and initiation and loyalty rituals. Members of the organization often display elaborate tattoos on their bodies and, in some cases, amputate parts of their fingers as a way of demonstrating repentance or loyalty.
The Japanese criminal organization is considered by several governments to be a threat to national and international security and has expanded its presence and influence in recent years outside Japan, mainly in countries such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and even the USA. In 2012, the US Treasury Department froze Yamaguchi-gumi's assets and banned it from doing business in the US, in response to its involvement in transnational crimes.
#Japanese #mafia #leader #trafficking #nuclear #weapons #trigger #World #War #III