A Japanese man who led an international criminal network has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for attempting to sell weapons-grade plutonium to Iran and flood New York City with methamphetamine and heroin.
Takeshi Ebisawa, a Japanese national with criminal ties stretching across Japan, Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka, was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Colleen McMahon in New York.
“Takeshi Ebisawa tried to sell uranium, thorium, and plutonium to fuel a purported nuclear weapons program, along with deadly drugs destined for U.S. streets. In exchange, Ebisawa hoped to procure battlefield weapons for insurgent groups and profit for himself. This case is a testament to the extraordinary efforts of our law enforcement partners, who worked across three continents to stop Ebisawa and bring him to justice in the United States,” said Attorney Jay Clayton.
Three-Year Undercover Operation
The case against Ebisawa began back in 2019, when DEA agents first started looking into his crime spree. Over three years, an undercover DEA agent – allegedly posing as a drug and weapons trafficker – was introduced to Ebisawa’s entire criminal web, which Ebisawa believed could help him broker weapons for insurgent groups in Burma in exchange for more drugs and nuclear materials.
That undercover agent connected Ebisawa with a second agent posing as an Iranian general overseeing Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Ebisawa reportedly offered to supply uranium to the fake general, then upgraded his pitch – telling the undercover agent representing Iran that plutonium would be “better” and more “powerful.”
In February 2022, Ebisawa and two co-conspirators also met with the undercover agent in Thailand and showed the agent physical samples of the nuclear materials. Thai authorities seized the samples, which were transferred to American custody and analyzed by a nuclear lab. The lab’s testing results confirmed the presence of uranium, thorium, and weapons-grade plutonium.
Ebisawa would also dabble in the drug trade, negotiating the sale of around 500 kilograms (roughly 1100 pounds) each of methamphetamine and heroin – planned to land in New York – and separately laundered $100,000 in supposed drug funds from the U.S. to Japan. He was arrested on April 4, 2022, and later pleaded guilty to six counts, including nuclear materials trafficking, narcotics distribution, weapons trafficking, and money laundering.
The Bigger Picture
While Ebisawa’s case involves Japanese and Burmese criminal networks rather than China, it fits a wider and increasingly alarming pattern of foreign criminals using foreign materials to either profit in trade in America, or to directly attack Americans.
The Dallas Express has reported extensively on related threats originating from China. In June of 2025, two Chinese nationals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party were arrested after allegedly smuggling a dangerous agricultural fungus – “Fusarium graminearum”, described by investigators as a “potential agroterrorism weapon” – into a University of Michigan laboratory. One of the suspects had received direct funding from the Chinese government for research related to the toxic fungus.
More recently, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller published a warning in January about random “mystery seed” packages from China that continue to show up in the mailboxes of Texas homes and farms. The Texas Department of Agriculture has collected over 1,100 packs of these unsolicited seeds at more than 100 different locations across the state since early 2025. Officials warned the deliveries could be part of something “more sinister” than a simple shipping scam, maybe even an attack on America’s agriculture industry.
DEA’s Warning
DEA Administrator Terrance Cole used Ebisawa’s sentencing this week to send a direct message to global crime rings eyeing America as a place to profit.
“National security and public safety are the very tenets of DEA’s mission, and this case demonstrates our ability to dismantle the world’s most dangerous criminal networks,” Cole said.
“Today’s sentence should send a clear message: threatening the United States by trafficking nuclear materials, narcotics, and military-grade weapons will trigger an uncompromising response. DEA will hold conspirators accountable—no matter the distance, no matter their allegiance.”