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The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Japanese gang leader Takeshi Ebizawa of conspiring to smuggle nuclear materials from Myanmar for Iran to use to build nuclear weapons.
According to the indictment released by a Manhattan court in New York on Wednesday (February 21), 60-year-old gang leader Takeshi Ebisawa and 61-year-old co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri were previously charged with international drug trafficking and firearms crimes in April 2022, and the new charges are contained in this replacement indictment. Both were remanded in custody pending trial.
Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice's *** Division, said, "The defendants are suspected of conspiring to purchase military ** from Burma's ***-class nuclear materials and lethal narcotics and purchasing military ** on behalf of armed rebel groups."
"If these plots succeed and the consequences are chilling, the Justice Department will hold accountable those who traffick these materials and threaten U.S. and international stability," he said. ”
Prosecutors accused Hirosawa of "blatantly" transshipment of materials containing uranium and grade ** plutonium from Myanmar, as well as drugs. Takeshi Ebizawa, who is being held in Brooklyn Jail, is a core member of the Japanese organized crime gang Yakuza, which has criminal activities in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and the United States.
Beginning in 2020, Ebizawa boasted to a plainclothes ** that he had access to a large amount of nuclear material for **, and provided the material** as well as a Geiger counter that recorded radiation**.
In a trapping operation, including undercover agents**, Thai authorities assisted U.S. investigators in seizing two powdered yellow substances, which the defendants called "yellowcakes." Undercover agents posing as drug and ** traffickers, claiming to have access to Iranian generals.
"The [U.S.] laboratory determined that the plutonium isotopic composition found in the nuclear samples was **grade, which means that if sufficient quantities of plutonium are produced, it will be suitable for use in the manufacture of nuclear **," the DOJ noted.
One of Hirazawa's co-conspirators claimed that they had "mastered uranium in more than 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of thorium-232 and more than 100 kilograms of U3O8 compounds." U3O8 is a uranium compound commonly found in uranium enriched powders called 'yellowcake'. ”
According to the indictment, Mr. Hibizawa sought to obtain a large number of military-grade** on behalf of an unnamed rebel group in Myanmar, including surface-to-air missiles, assault rifles and sniper rifles, machine guns, and rockets and tactical equipment of various calibers.
The two defendants will be tried in federal court in New York on Thursday (22nd). Takeshi Ebizawa confronted complicity in international trafficking in nuclear materials, drug imports, acquisition and transfer and possession of anti-aircraft missiles, and money laundering. His accomplice Sampup faces charges of drug and ** trafficking. If convicted, the two face life in prison.