The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the US Drug Enforcement Agency announced Thursday that they had arrested four men charged with international drug and arms trafficking crimes. Three of the men were Thai citizens, but Takeshi Ebisawa is a Japanese national who is alleged by US authorities to be part of the Yakuza, a network of highly organized crime families based in Japan that operate around the world. In a press release, the DEA said they had been investigating Ebisawa since 2019. They allege that they introduced him to an Undercover Dea Agent posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker. Ebisawa and his associates allegedly attempted to sell 500 kilograms of methamphetamine and 500 kilograms of heroin in the United States. In exchange, he tried to buy US-made surface-to-air missiles and other heavy weapons from the undercover DEA agent, with the intention of distributing them to armed ethnic groups in Burma. Ebisawa and two other men were arrested on Monday, the fourth man was arrested on Tuesday; all were arrested in Manhattan. “The expansive reach of transnational criminal networks, such as the Yakuza, presents a serious threat to the safety and health of all communities,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. “Ebisawa and his associates intended to distribute hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin into the United States, using lethal weapons to enable their criminal activities, at a time when nearly 300 Americans are dying from drug overdoses every year. days”. he faces six charges, including narcotics importation conspiracy; conspiracy to possess firearms, Including Machine Guns and destructive devices; conspiracy to acquire, transfer and possess (surface-to-air missiles); drug importation conspiracy; conspiracy to possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices; and money laundering. In addition to money laundering, all charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.