A man who ran a notorious Japanese organized crime ring pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials to Iran and weapons abandoned by the United States in Afghanistan to Myanmar, federal prosecutors said.
Japanese yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Manhattan federal court to conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Myanmar to other countries. He also pleaded guilty to international drug trafficking and weapons charges, the Justice Department announced.
Edward Y. Kim, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Hai Laoze admitted that he “blatantly moved nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Myanmar” while working to “remove large quantities of nuclear Materials shipped out of Myanmar”. Shipping heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy weapons such as surface-to-air missiles for use on the battlefield in Myanmar, and laundering what he considered drug money from New York to Tokyo. ”
Takeshi Ebisawa pleaded guilty to participating in an international criminal enterprise. (Southern District of New York)
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been investigating Ebize since at least 2019, according to court documents and evidence presented in court.
Federal prosecutors said that during the course of the investigation, Ebola inadvertently introduced an undercover DEA agent posing as a drug and weapons trafficker to his international criminal associates in a network that spanned Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the United States. In addition, “for the purpose of arranging large-scale drug and weapons transactions.”
Japanese crime boss charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials to Iran
The superseding indictment alleges that Ebola and his network, including his co-defendants, negotiated multiple drug and weapons deals with the undercover agent.
Hai Laoze reportedly conspired to facilitate the purchase of U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles, as well as other heavy weapons, intended to serve “Myanmar’s multiple ethnic armed groups,” including an unidentified leader of “an ethnic insurgent group” to the federation Prosecutor. He also allegedly negotiated an agreement to accept large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine for distribution as part payment for the weapons.
“Hai Laoze learned that the weapons were manufactured in the United States and shipped from U.S. military bases in Afghanistan,” the U.S. Department of Justice said. “Ei Laoze planned to distribute heroin and methamphetamine in the New York market.”
In a separate transaction, he also allegedly conspired to sell 500 kilograms of methamphetamine and 500 kilograms of heroin to undercover agents for distribution in New York, prosecutors said.
Ebisawa was also charged with allegedly laundering $100,000 in drug proceeds from the United States to Japan.
Court documents show that beginning in early 2020, Hai Laoze told undercover agents and confidential DEA sources that he had access to large quantities of nuclear materials that he wanted to sell.
Later that year, Ebola allegedly sent the undercover agent a series of photos “using a Geiger counter to measure radiation to characterize the rock material,” as well as laboratory analyzes of the alleged presence of thorium and uranium, court documents say. At Hailaoze’s urging, undercover agents agreed to help him sell nuclear materials to an associate posing as an Iranian general for use in the nuclear weapons program, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors said Hailaoze then offered to provide the so-called Iranian general with “plutonium,” which was “better” and “more powerful” than uranium for this purpose.
Huebizer and two other co-conspirators allegedly proposed to undercover agents that Myanmar rebel leaders sell uranium to alleged Iranian generals through Huebizer to fund the group’s weapons purchases.
During a video call on February 4, 2022, one of Hailaoze’s co-conspirators allegedly told undercover DEA agents and Myanmar rebel leaders that he had more than 2,000 kilograms of thorium-232 and more than 100 kilograms of uranium in the warehouse. Compound U3O8 – A uranium compound commonly found in powdered uranium concentrate known as “yellowcake,” according to court documents.
With the assistance of Thai authorities, nuclear samples known as “yellow cake” were seized. (Southern District of New York)
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He allegedly claimed he could produce up to five tons of nuclear material in Myanmar. Prosecutors said they held several meetings in Southeast Asia to discuss ongoing deals.
During one of the meetings, one of Ebi’s co-conspirators showed the undercover agent two plastic containers, each containing a yellow powdery substance, which he described as “yellow cake” to the undercover agent in a hotel room in Thailand. of nuclear samples.
He allegedly said one container contained a sample of uranium in the U3O8 compound and another contained thorium-232.
The samples were seized with the assistance of Thai authorities and subsequently transferred to the custody of U.S. law enforcement.
The Justice Department said a U.S. nuclear forensics laboratory examined the samples and determined that both samples contained detectable amounts of uranium, thorium and plutonium. “In particular, the laboratory determined that the isotopic composition of the plutonium found in the nuclear samples was weapons grade, meaning that if produced in sufficient quantities, it would be suitable for use in nuclear weapons,” the prosecutor added.
The superseding indictment includes photos of the seized nuclear samples. (Southern District of New York)
Heebizer has been held in Brooklyn since his arrest in April 2022 during a DEA sting operation that resulted in international drug and weapons charges. A superseding indictment was filed against him last February.
On Wednesday, Eilaoze pleaded guilty to six counts. The two counts of conspiracy to import drugs carry a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Other charges he pleaded guilty to include conspiracy to traffic in nuclear materials internationally, conspiracy to possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, and money laundering.
Ebola’s guilty plea “should serve as a stern reminder to those who endanger our national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium and other hazardous materials on behalf of organized crime groups that the Department of Justice will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Justice Department National Assistant Attorney General for Security Matthew G. Olson said in a statement.
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DEA Director Anne Milgram said the investigation into Hai Laoze and his associates “exposes the shocking depth of international organized crime, from trafficking nuclear materials to fueling the drug trade and arming violent insurgents.”
