In a significant legal move, authorities in the United States have brought charges against the head of a prominent Japanese criminal organization, accusing him of orchestrating a scheme to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar, with the intended destination being Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Takeshi Ebisawa, aged 60, stands accused alongside his associate, Somphop Singhasiri, aged 61, of engaging in a range of illicit activities, including drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and the illicit trade of nuclear substances.
Anne Milgram, Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), underscored the seriousness of the allegations, stating that Ebisawa and Singhasiri had even offered uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, fully aware of Iran’s intentions to employ them in the production of nuclear armaments. “Their actions exemplify the extreme callousness of criminal enterprises, showing a complete disregard for human life,” Milgram remarked.
Authorities suspect that Ebisawa holds a high-ranking position within the Yakuza, a notorious transnational criminal syndicate based in Japan.
The trajectory of the nuclear materials involved a circuitous route, beginning in Myanmar and passing through Thailand before reaching the hands of an undercover DEA operative posing as a dealer in narcotics and weaponry, who claimed to have connections to an Iranian military figure.
The source of the nuclear substances was traced to an anonymous leader within an insurgent faction in Myanmar, reportedly involved in the illicit extraction of uranium within the region.
Legal representatives assert that Ebisawa had proposed the sale of uranium through his network, aiming to secure funds for the procurement of lethal armaments, including surface-to-air missiles, facilitated by connections to the Iranian general.
https://irannewsupdate.com/news/news-digest/us-indicts-japanese-crime-boss-for-alleged-trafficking-of-nuclear-materials-to-iran/
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