3 Chinese citizens arrested for attempting to illegally buy uranium

Three Chinese citizens have been arrested in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, while attempting to illegally purchase 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of uranium, the country’s State Security Service said Saturday.

The suspects planned to transport the nuclear material to China through Russia, the security service said in a statement, while also releasing video footage of the detention operation.

“Three Chinese citizens have been detained in Tbilisi while attempting to illegally purchase 2 kilograms of nuclear material — uranium,” the agency said, adding that members of the criminal group planned to pay $400,000 (344,000 euros) for the radioactive material.

According to the authorities, a Chinese citizen already in Georgia, who was in breach of Georgian visa regulations, brought experts to Georgia to search for uranium throughout the country.

Other members of the criminal group coordinated the operation from China, the statement said.

The perpetrators were identified and detained while “negotiating the details of the illegal transaction,” the security service said.

The agency did not specify when the arrests occurred or provide the identities of the suspects.

In January, Takeshi Ebisawa of Japan, the purported leader of a Japan-based crime syndicate, pleaded guilty to charges alleging that he conspired to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar in the belief that Iran would use it for nuclear weapons.