Federal prosecutors say a leader of a Japan-based crime syndicate conspired to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar in the belief that Iran would use it for nuclear weapons. Prosecutors said Wednesday that Takeshi Ebisawa and his confederates showed samples of nuclear materials transported from Myanmar to Thailand to a Drug Enforcement Administration undercover agent posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker who had access to an Iranian general. The nuclear material was seized and samples were later found to contain uranium and weapons-grade plutonium. An email seeking comment was sent to Ebisawa’s attorney.
