A Yakuza leader has pleaded guilty to trafficking weapons-grade plutonium for Iran, facing serious charges in a Manhattan court.
He’s facing life in prison after his plea in federal court. On top of that, he also confessed to drug trafficking charges. Talk about a double whammy!
The acting US Attorney, Edward Y Kim, said Ebisawa was caught red-handed trying to move nuclear material out of Burma. He was also dealing massive amounts of heroin and meth to the U.S. in exchange for heavy-duty weapons. It’s like something out of a movie!
So, how did he get caught? Well, it turns out he was chatting with an undercover source from the DEA, who was pretending to be an Iranian general. Ebisawa thought he was making a big deal, but he was actually being set up.
In 2020, he told the DEA source he had access to a ton of nuclear materials he wanted to sell. He even sent photos showing off some rocky stuff with Geiger counters, claiming it was thorium and uranium. But it was all a ruse!
The materials came from a leader of an ethnic insurgent group in Myanmar, who was mining uranium. Ebisawa was trying to broker a deal to sell it and fund a weapons purchase. Crazy, right?
Prosecutors got their hands on samples, and guess what? A federal lab confirmed they contained uranium, thorium, and plutonium. And the plutonium was weapons-grade! That’s some serious firepower.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said this whole investigation shows just how deep international organized crime runs, from nuclear trafficking to fueling the drug trade. It’s wild!
Now, Ebisawa is looking at a minimum of 10 years in prison, but he could end up spending life behind bars. Sentencing is set for April 9. Let’s see how this unfolds!
