Takeshi Ebisawa Pleads Guilty in Manhattan to Trafficking Weapons-Grade Plutonium to Iran

Jan 9, 2025, 07:50 AM

Takeshi Ebisawa, a 60-year-old Japanese national and purported leader of the Yakuza crime syndicate, has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to charges of conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar to Iran. Ebisawa admitted to handling uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, which he believed would be used by Iran for nuclear weapons. Alongside the nuclear trafficking, he also confessed to international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges. The plea came after a DEA sting operation where Ebisawa unknowingly communicated with a confidential source and an undercover agent posing as an Iranian general. Ebisawa faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, with the possibility of life imprisonment, and sentencing is scheduled for April 9.