A leader of Japan's Yakuza crime syndicate who tried to sell Iran weapons-grade plutonium has pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking narcotics, weapons and nuclear material.

A member of the Japanese yakuza criminal underworld pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities said Wednesday.

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).