On Wednesday, U.S. authorities charged a Japanese crime syndicate leader with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials out of Myanmar.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, and co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri, 61, trafficked nuclear material, weapons, and drugs. Authorities accused Ebisawa of conspiring to sell weapons-grade nuclear material and lethal narcotics from Myanmar and buying military weapons for an armed insurgent group. According to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the two men offered uranium and weapons-grade plutonium with the expectation that Iran would use them for nuclear weapons. Authorities previously charged both men in 2022 with international narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. The new charges against them are contained in a superseding indictment. According to the Department of Justice, both men have been ordered detained.
