Yakuza leader arrested on charges of trying to smuggle nuclear materials to Iran

A Yakuza leader was arrested by the US government on charges of attempting to smuggle nuclear materials to Iran.

The US government announced the arrest of a leader of Japanese criminal groups called the "Yakuza" who was trying to smuggle uranium and plutonium from Myanmar to other countries, including Iran, and that he was charged by the US Attorney's Office.

According to U.S. federal officials, Takeshi Abisawa and his accomplice showed samples of nuclear material smuggled from Myanmar to Thailand to an undercover U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent posing as a drug and arms smuggler and claiming to be in contact with an Iranian general. The material was seized and tested to be weapons-grade uranium and plutonium.

The US prosecutor stated on this matter: "The nuclear materials were sent by a leader of ethnic rebel groups in Myanmar who had seized a uranium mine in the country. Abisawa had offered the Myanmar rebel leader the opportunity to broker the sale of uranium so that he could finance the purchase of weapons from the Iranian general."

According to court documents, the rebel leader prepared samples that were found in a US laboratory to contain weapons-grade uranium, thorium and plutonium. According to US prosecutors, Abisawa, 60, is a leader of a Japan-based international crime syndicate who was arrested in a Manhattan raid in April 2022 and has been awaiting trial ever since.

Ann Milgram, the head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, issued a statement regarding nuclear smuggling, saying: "As alleged, the defendants in this case were involved in smuggling drugs, weapons, and nuclear materials, to the point of offering weapons-grade uranium and plutonium to Iran, knowing that Iran would use it to build nuclear weapons. This is a stark example of the corruption of drug traffickers who profit without regard for human life."