On Wednesday, the US authorities charged the leader of a Japan-based crime syndicate conspired to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar.
The nuclear material came from an unidentified leader of an "ethnic insurgent group" that mined uranium in Myanmar.
US Charges Japanese Mafia Leader
Anne Milgram, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said that Takeshi Ebisawa and his co-defendant Somphop Singhasiri were involved in drug and weapon trafficking, offering uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, fully expecting that Iran would use it for nuclear weapons.
"This is an extraordinary example of the depravity of drug traffickers who operate with total disregard for human life," she said.
According to US officials, Ebisawa is a senior leader in the international organized criminal organization Yakuza, which has operations in the US, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Federal officials claimed that an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, posing as a weapons and drug trafficker who had connections to an Iranian general, received the nuclear materials from Myanmar and brought them to Thailand.
Furthermore, the officials allege that Ebisawa had suggested to the leader to sell uranium through him to buy deadly weapons, including the purchase of surface-to-air missiles from the general.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said it is chilling to imagine the consequences if these efforts succeeded. The two men were charged in 2022 with charges related to firearms offenses and international drug trafficking after a DEA sting operation.
He will face life imprisonment if convicted of the latest charges. The recent charges were presented in a superseding indictment. On Thursday, the defendants will be arraigned in Manhattan federal court.
Honduras Former President Hernandez Faces Drug Trafficking Trial
Meanwhile, the trial of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez on drug trafficking charges in the US will start on Tuesday. A jury in New York will have the opportunity to decide whether Washington's former principal anti-drug ally controlled the Central American nation as a "narco-state."
Hernandez lived close to Washington during his 2014-2022 tenure. Honduras received over $50 million in US anti-narcotics assistance during his administration and tens of millions more in security and military aid. He also gained support from former President Donald Trump for cracking down on migration.
However, federal prosecutors in Manhattan accused him three months after he left the office of taking millions of dollars in bribes from cocaine traffickers in return for using his position to shield them. According to Attorney General Merrick Garland, he abused his authority to run the country as a "narco-state."
That occurred about three years after his brother, the late congressman Tony Hernandez, was found guilty of drug-related offenses in the US and was given a life sentence.
He has pleaded not guilty to three charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of illegal weapons. Since his extradition in April 2022, he has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
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