Photogenic Yakuza Boss Pleads Guilty to Trying to Sell Nuclear Material

In February last year, Japanese yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa entered our hearts when he posed with a rocket launcher for a photo. This year, he will enter federal prison after pleading guilty to trying to sell weapons-grade plutonium, drugs and weapons to federal agents.

According to the Justice Department, Ebisawa is part of a large-scale criminal network spread across Japan, Thailand, Bruma, Sri Lanka and the United States that transports drugs and weapons throughout Southeast Asia. Ebisawa was a known entity to the feds, who set up a sting operation to catch him.

He wanted surface-to-air missiles from America’s war in Afghanistan that he planned to sell to armed groups in Burma. According to the feds, Ebisawa would pay in part for some of these weapons by using amphetamines and heroin bound for the US street market. The yakuza leader wanted to sell an additional 500 kilograms of meth and heroin as a separate transaction.

And then there is weapons-grade nuclear material. As part of the sting, Ebisawa tried to claim thorium and uranium to an undercover agent posing as an Iranian general. The yakuza boss sent photos of a rocky substance next to a Geiger counter and photos of what he claimed were fake lab reports to the general. “Ebisawa then offered to supply the general with ‘plutonium’ that would be ‘better’ and more ‘powerful’ than uranium for this purpose,” the Justice Department said. Press release Dr. about being found guilty.

Ebisawa claimed to have 2,000 kilograms of thorium-232, over 100 kilograms of uranium in yellowcake form. He promised that he could get another five tons of nuclear material from his contacts in Burma. He provided the sample and when the feds tested it they found that Ebisawa did indeed have weapons-grade nuclear material.

He pleaded guilty to six charges against him: conspiracy to smuggle nuclear material, actually smuggling nuclear material, money laundering, and three counts related to drugs and firearms. A judge will determine the sentence, but the weapons charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“Our investigation into Takeshi Ebisawa and his associates uncovered a shocking depth of international organized crime, from smuggling nuclear materials to fueling the drug trade and arming violent insurgents,” DEA Administrator Ann Milgram said in a press release about the case. “The DEA is positioned to relentlessly pursue anyone who threatens our national security, no matter where they operate. Protecting the American people from such evil will always be the DEA’s highest priority.”

Prosecutions of nuclear material traffickers are incredibly rare. Business is strictly regulated. Only nine countries in the world have access to nuclear weapons and the nuclear power industry is heavily regulated. The International Atomic Energy Agency recorded only 4,243 incidents of illegal activity involving nuclear material Since 1993.

In 2023, it reported 168 cases in 31 states and said it was “in line with historical averages.” but The nuclear power industry is booming. Russia, China and the United States have entered into a new nuclear arms race. Nuclear weapons and power are big again and more nuclear means more points of failure, more complex supply chains and more room for nuclear material Lost or stolen en route.