He had been on the radar of American authorities for over six years. A member of the Japanese yakuza was sentenced, this Tuesday, to 20 years in prison in New York (United States) for international trafficking of nuclear material, drugs, and weapons.
“Takeshi Ebisawa was held accountable for his crimes, including an attempt to sell military-grade plutonium to Iran and flood New York with deadly drugs,” praised John Eisenberg, from the national security division of the US Department of Justice.
Buying weapons for insurgent groups
In the sights of the American drug enforcement agency, DEA, since 2019, the yakuza was indicted in April 2022 for drug and firearms trafficking, alongside a co-defendant from Thailand, Somphop Singhasiri. Both were placed in pre-trial detention.
In February 2024, the Japanese man was also accused of attempting to sell military-use nuclear materials, as well as drugs like heroin and methamphetamine, in order to buy weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, for armed insurgent groups in Burma.
He acted alongside DEA undercover agents. Takeshi Ebisawa, 61, pleaded guilty to six charges in January 2025. Upon his release from prison, he will have to spend five years under supervised release.
