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https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Yakuza-leader-arrested-in-U.S.-for-drugs-for-missiles-plot?utm_campaign=GL_JP_update&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=4&pub_date=20220408090000&seq_num=8&si=44594 Yakuza leader arrested in U.S. for drugs for missiles plot Surface-to-air missiles to Myanmar to be paid for with heroin and meth Four men were arrested in New York in a sprawling drugs for weapons scheme. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice) JACK STONE TRUITT, Nikkei staff writerApril 8, 2022 07:13 JST NEW YORK -- A yakuza leader and three Thai associates have been arrested in New York for allegedly conspiring to obtain surface-to-air missiles for groups in Myanmar using narcotics as a payment, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. A Drug Enforcement Administration investigation led to the arrest of Takeshi Ebisawa of Japan, dual U.S.-Thai citizen Suksan Jullanan and Sompak Rukrasaranee of Thailand on April 4. Somphop Singhasiri of Thailand was arrested on April 5. "The drugs were destined for New York streets, and the weapons shipments were meant for factions in unstable nations. Members of this international crime syndicate can no longer put lives in danger and will face justice for their illicit actions," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a news release. The four men all face a maximum of life imprisonment for charges relating to international weapons and narcotics trafficking. Ebisawa, a leader within a Japanese transnational organized crime syndicate known as yakuza, has also been charged with money laundering. The DEA investigation into Ebisawa's connections to narcotics and weapons trafficking had been ongoing since 2019 and spanned the globe. DEA offices across six countries and three continents were all involved, as was law enforcement in Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. Ebisawa with a rocket launcher at a February 2021 meeting with undercover agents in a warehouse in Copenhagen. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice) U.S. officials allege that Ebisawa, Jullanan and Rukrasaranee conspired to broker the purchase from an undercover DEA agent of American-made surface-to-air missiles and other weaponry for multiple ethnic armed groups in Myanmar. The arms were said to have been taken from American military bases in Afghanistan. Ebisawa and Singhasiri, for partial payment of the weapons, then allegedly conspired to sell 500 kg of heroin and 500 kg of methamphetamine meant for distribution in New York. "The expansive reach of transnational criminal networks, like the yakuza, presents a serious threat to the safety and health of all communities. Ebisawa and his associates intended to distribute hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin to the United States, using deadly weapons to enable their criminal activities," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the news release.