RUSSO DAILY
← NUKE WARS  |  Home NUKE WARS

US court convicts Japanese yakuza for trafficking nuclear material

by AFP Staff Writers New York (AFP) Mar 4, 2026 AFP
A member of Japan's yakuza crime group was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a New York court on Tuesday after being convicted of trafficking nuclear material as well as drugs and weapons.

Takeshi Ebisawa, 61, has been jailed since April 2022 on the drug and weapons charges, along with his Thai co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri, following years of investigations by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

In February 2024, he was also accused of trying to sell military-grade nuclear material, along with narcotics including heroin and methamphetamine, to buy weapons including surface-to-air missiles for armed groups in Myanmar.

He pleaded guilty to a total of six charges in January 2025.

"Takeshi Ebisawa has been held accountable for his crimes, including an attempt to sell weapons-grade plutonium to Iran and to flood New York with deadly narcotics," said John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for national security.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, is Copyright 1995-2026 Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principles for news reporting and research purposes.