• A leader of the Japanese organized crime syndicate yakuza pleaded guilty in New York federal court to trafficking nuclear materials, prosecutors said.
• Takeshi Ebisawa also pleaded guilty to international narcotics trafficking and heavy weapons charges, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.

A leader of the Japanese organized crime syndicate yakuza pleaded guilty in New York federal court Wednesday to charges of trafficking nuclear materials and conspiring to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, out of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, according to prosecutors.

Takeshi Ebisawa also admitted to conspiring to purchase U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles and other heavy weaponry, intended for armed ethnic groups in Myanmar, and to accept large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine as partial payment for the weapons, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ebisawa, 60, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

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