The U.S. Justice Department alleges that senior Japanese yakuza member Takeshi Ebisawa was at the center of a conspiracy to funnel U.S. weapons to Myanmar’s ethnic militias in exchange for heroin and methamphetamine. Hai Laoze was charged with drug importation, money laundering and conspiracy to obtain surface-to-air missiles.
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A Japanese gang leader pleaded guilty in federal court in New York on Wednesday to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Myanmar to other countries, prosecutors said.
yakuza member Ebizawatake He also pleaded guilty to international drug trafficking and weapons charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.
The Yakuza is a Japanese organized crime group.
Prosecutors said Hai Laoze, 60, admitted to conspiring to broker the purchase of U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles and other heavy weapons for use by Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups and accepting large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine as part payment for the weapons.
Ebisawa faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
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