An alleged leader from Japan’s Yakuza crime syndicate has pleaded guilty to trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar as part of a global web of trades in drugs, weapons and laundered cash, according to the US Department of Justice.

A Japanese Yakuza leader has pleaded guilty to attempting to traffic weapons-grade plutonium for Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.

The leader of a Japanese crime syndicate who was charged by U.S. authorities with trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar pleaded guilty on Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

A Japanese Yakuza leader pleaded guilty in New York federal court to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Burma to other countries, prosecutors said. The Yakuza member Takeshi Ebisawa also pleaded guilty to international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges,

Takeshi Ebisawa, the alleged leader of the Japanese Yakuza, admitted in a New York court to trafficking nuclear materials and drugs. The uranium and plutonium originated from Myanmar (formerly Burma).

A Yakuza ganglord has pleaded guilt to smuggling nuclear materials after a Thai led sting operation, supported by US investigators, thwarted the syndicate member's actives