A New York court sentenced a Japanese man, a member of a yakuza crime group, to 20 years in prison for trafficking nuclear material, drugs, and weapons. Takeshi Ebisawa, 61, had pleaded guilty to six charges in January 2025. The ruling follows years of investigations by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
On Tuesday, a New York federal court imposed a 20-year prison sentence on Takeshi Ebisawa, a 61-year-old member of a yakuza crime group, for his involvement in trafficking nuclear material, drugs, and weapons.
Ebisawa has been in custody since April 2022 on charges related to drugs and weapons, alongside his Thai co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri. These charges stemmed from years of investigations conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
In February 2024, Ebisawa faced additional accusations of attempting to sell military-grade nuclear material, along with narcotics such as heroin and methamphetamine, in order to purchase weapons including surface-to-air missiles for armed groups in Myanmar. He pleaded guilty to a total of six charges in January 2025.
"Takeshi Ebisawa has been held accountable for his crimes, including an attempt to sell weapons-grade plutonium to Iran and to flood New York with deadly narcotics," said John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for national security.
The case highlights the risks posed by international crime networks and underscores the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's ongoing efforts in bolstering global security.
