A leader of a Japan-based crime syndicate conspired to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar in the belief that Iran would use it to make nuclear weapons, U.S. prosecutors alleged Wednesday.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, and his confederates showed samples of nuclear materials that had been transported from Myanmar to Thailand to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker who had access to an Iranian general, according to federal officials. The nuclear material was seized and samples were later found to contain uranium and weapons-grade plutonium.
鈥淎s alleged, the defendants in this case trafficked in drugs, weapons, and nuclear material 鈥 going so far as to offer uranium and weapons-grade plutonium fully expecting that Iran would use it for nuclear weapons," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. 鈥淭his is an extraordinary example of the depravity of drug traffickers who operate with total disregard for human life.鈥
The nuclear material came from an unidentified leader of an 鈥渆thnic insurgent group鈥 in Myanmar who had been mining uranium in the country, according to prosecutors. Ebisawa had proposed that the leader sell uranium through him in order to fund a weapons purchase from the general, court documents allege.
According to prosecutors, the insurgent leader provided samples, which a U.S. federal lab found contained uranium, thorium and plutonium, and that the 鈥渢he isotope composition of the plutonium鈥 was weapons-grade, meaning enough of it would be suitable for use in a nuclear weapon.
Ebisawa, who prosecutors allege is a leader of a Japan-based international crime syndicate, was among four people who were arrested in April 2022 in Manhattan during a DEA sting operation. He has been jailed awaiting trial and is among two defendants named in a superseding indictment. Ebisawa is charged with the international trafficking of nuclear materials, conspiracy to commit that crime, and several other counts.
An email seeking comment was sent to Ebisawa's attorney, Evan Loren Lipton.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Ebisawa 鈥渂razenly鈥 trafficked the material from Myanmar to other countries.
鈥淗e allegedly did so while believing that the material was going to be used in the development of a nuclear weapons program, and the weapons-grade plutonium he trafficked, if produced in sufficient quantities, could have been used for that purpose,鈥 Williams said in the news release. "Even as he allegedly attempted to sell nuclear materials, Ebisawa also negotiated for the purchase of deadly weapons, including surface-to-air missiles."
The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.
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Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday accepted an invitation from CNN to debate former President Donald Trump on October 23, challenging her rival to another engagement on a public stage in the final weeks of the campaign.
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Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president.
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Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire on Saturday as rescue crews in Beirut searched the rubble of an apartment building that was leveled by an Israeli airstrike that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group's senior leaders as well as women and children.
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Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
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Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls 鈥 including one that gave birth to 10 puppies 鈥 from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
Despite the heavy rain, plenty of muscle turned up for United Way鈥檚 annual Pull the Bus fundraiser in Lethbridge Friday.
Lethbridge County has rescinded its fire restriction as a result of the recent cool, wet weathr.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes kicked off the 2024-25 season on a winning note Friday night, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1 in a game played at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
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A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester鈥檚 farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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