The Justice Department announced that it has charged a Japanese crime syndicate leader with conspiring to smuggle nuclear materials from Myanmar that Iran is expected to use to build nuclear weapons.
Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, and co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri, 61, trafficked drugs, weapons and nuclear materials, "going so far as to offer uranium and weapons-grade plutonium to Iran, which they hoped could use it to build nuclear weapons," said Anne Milgram, head of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The detention of both men has been ordered, the ministry said in a statement.
Deputy Attorney General Matthew Olsen said Ebisawa was charged with conspiring to sell nuclear material and deadly narcotics from Myanmar and conspiring to purchase military weapons on behalf of the armed rebel group.
The two suspects were indicted in 2022 for international drug trafficking and firearms offenses. The new charges were added to the previous indictment.
