Japanese Yakuza Leader Charged with Trafficking Nuclear Materials

The Justice Department has unsealed an indictment charging a Japanese national, Takeshi Ebisawa, with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Burma to other countries, as well as international narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. Ebisawa allegedly offered to sell weapons-grade nuclear material and lethal narcotics, and attempted to purchase military weaponry on behalf of an armed insurgent group. The indictment also alleges that Ebisawa engaged in discussions to broker the sale of nuclear materials to an individual posing as an Iranian general for use in a nuclear weapons program. The case is being investigated by the DEA Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit, with assistance from various law enforcement partners, and is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.