Japanese mafia boss plotted trafficking of nuclear materials – US

American legal authorities have accused a suspected member of the Japanese mafia of planning to transport nuclear materials illegally.

It is said that 60-year-old Takeshi Ebisawa tried to sell uranium and plutonium to Iran so they could make a nuclear bomb.

In April 2022, Mr Ebisawa and another person from Thailand were accused of having weapons and drugs.

He could go to jail for the rest of his life if he is found guilty of the new charges.

US officials say Mr. Ebisawa is a big part of a criminal group from Japan called the Yakuza. They do illegal things in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and the US. Ebisawa is in a jail in Brooklyn.

The US Department of Justice said that Mr. Ebisawa and his friends showed samples of nuclear materials in Thailand to an undercover agent from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The person was pretending to be a person who sells drugs and weapons and had connections to an Iranian general.

The nuclear samples from Myanmar were taken by Thai authorities and given to US investigators. A US lab found uranium and plutonium that can be used to make weapons.

Prosecutors claim that Mr. Ebisawa tried to get a lot of powerful weapons for a rebel group in Myanmar.

The weapons included missiles that can shoot from the ground to the sky, rifles for close combat and shooting from a distance, guns that shoot a lot of bullets at once, rockets of different sizes, and different types of gear for military purposes.

Assistant attorney general Matthew G Olden said on Wednesday that it’s scary to think about what would have happened if these efforts had worked. The justice department will punish anyone who tries to sell these materials and put US national security and international stability in danger.

In February 2020, it is said that Mr. Ebisawa talked to a DEA agent about selling stuff for nuclear bombs. According to US lawyers, he said in secret messages that uranium is not healthy for you.

In September of that year, Mr. Ebisawa supposedly sent an email to a secret DEA agent with a letter from a mining company. He said he would sell 50 tonnes of uranium and thorium for $6. 85 million (or £5. 4 million)

The lawyers also say that he sent pictures of a dark, rocky substance with a device that measures radiation levels.

Mr Ebisawa is accused of working with others to illegally trade nuclear materials, bring drugs into the country, try to get and own anti-aircraft missiles, and wash money.

The other person involved in the case is a 61-year-old man from Thailand named Somphop Singhasiri. He is being accused of having drugs and weapons.

The two people will appear in a New York court on Thursday.