The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 22nd, 2024: Yakuza Nuclear Plot Foiled & Pakistan's Chaotic Governing Coalition

Episode Date: February 22, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     Federal prosecutors in the U.S. unveiled charges on Wednesday against a member of a Japanese organized crime syndicate that attempted to traffic nuclear materials from Thailand to Iran. Following weeks of political chaos in Pakistan following their contentious national election, details are emerging about the unconventional coalition government being formed inside the nuclear power. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.     Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at MintMobile.com. It's Thursday, 22 February. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, federal prosecutors in the U.S. unveiled charges on Wednesday

against a member of a Japanese organized crime syndicate that attempted to traffic nuclear materials from Thailand to Iran. Also, following weeks of political chaos in Pakistan, after their contentious national election, details are emerging about the unconventional coalition government being formed inside the nuclear power. But first, our afternoon spotlight. We begin today with a story straight out of a Bond film, or maybe an Austin Powers film, involving a Japanese organized crime syndicate and attempts to traffic large quantities of nuclear materials

to help Iran build a nuclear weapon. The gangster in question is Takeshi Ebisawa, a leader leader of Japan's Yakuza crime group, who was ultimately snagged in a sting operation by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents. He reportedly tried to sell the nuclear materials to an undercover DEA agent, uh-oh, posing as an arms dealer with high-level contacts in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that's according to a report by NBC News. The indictment, unsealed in New York on Wednesday, said Abbasawa contacted the undercover DEA agent instead of September 2020, during the pandemic, with a letter in the name of a mining company, which offered 50 metric tons of uranium and thorium for a cool 6.85 million. In a subsequent meeting in Thailand,

the Yakuza leader showed samples of the materials to the DEA agent. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said Wednesday, quote, with the assistance of Thai authorities, the nuclear samples were seized and subsequently transferred to the custody of U.S. law enforcement. Now, following the seizure of the materials, a U.S. nuclear forensic laboratory confirmed that the samples contained uranium and weapons-grade plutonium. The Yakuza leader's interests didn't stop at nuclear materials, however. He was multitasking. He also reportedly attempted to negotiate the sale of surface-to-air missiles,

M-60 machine guns, AK-47s, and armor-piercing ammunition. officials say his criminal network extends through Asia, Europe, and the United States. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that it was, quote, impossible to overstate the seriousness of the conduct alleged in today's indictment. Now, Ebassawa was previously charged in April 2022, along with a Thai national, with engaging in international narcotics trafficking and illegal arms sales. The latest charges came as a superseding indictment, and the pair, who are in U.S. custody, are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. They face a slew of charges, including trafficking of nuclear materials, narcotics importation conspiracy and money laundering, and face life behind bars.

Coming up after the break, we'll discuss the fragile coalition government being formed in Pakistan and concerns over the political instability and security concerns that disagreement could cause. I'll be right back. How many discounts does USA auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount? New vehicle discount. Storage discount. Legacy. How many discounts will you stack up?

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Solar elixir, a radiant expression of joy. Ultra concentrated for amplified impact and lasting power. Find your euphoria. Discover the euphoria elixir collection by Calvin Klein. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. As we discussed last week on the PDB, Pakistan was thrown into political chaos following a national election on February 8th

that left no clear winner, resulting in what's referred to as a hung parliament. Now, as an aside, I did get a somewhat disapproving look from my wife for making a Beavis and Butthead juvenile reference to the phrase, hung parliament. So you can count on me not doing that again. I'm far too mature. All three of the country's political parties failed to reach the requisite majority required to form a government amid widespread allegations of electoral corruption. Now following weeks of intense negotiations, officials with the Pakistan Muslim League Nois, or what's referred to as a PMLN, announced on Wednesday

that they had reached an agreement with the Pakistan People's Party, or PPP, to form a coalition government led by the PMLN, based on conditional support from the PPP, according to our Writers' report. No word yet on the acronym that they'll use for this new coalition, but I suspect it will have a lot of consonants. So what does this mean? Well, it's a delicate arrangement that many already fear will make governing chaotic and unpredictable, and that's not an outlook you necessarily want to hear regarding a nuclear power. The PMLN will take over the top leadership role in the country. However,

they will need the approval of the PPP to make any decisions, who will review those decisions on a case-by-case basis, and that sounds like a very efficient operation in a bureaucratic sort of way. Ayesha Siddika, a leading Pakistani political analyst, told Reuters, quote, it will be, of course, a roller coaster. I think she's understating it. Notably, the PPP will not take cabinet positions in the new government, and their support for any initiatives from the PMLN and the legislature will be conditional. Now, Faiso Corim Kundi, the PPP's Secretary of Information, further elaborated to Reuters saying, quote, we will support policy decisions on an issue-to-issue basis. He added that his party will support the PMLN's candidate for Prime Minister, Shabaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, former president, Asif Ali Zardari, who serves as co-chairman of the PPP, will be tapped to once again lead the office of the president. This split governing arrangement raises questions about just how effectively such a coalition can enact policy, particularly inside a country in need of decisive decision-making to rescue their economy from the financial doldrums. The coalition must also contend with a strong opposition bloc made up of the supporters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan. You can see that this is becoming more and more complex. In the election, members of Khan's party, the PTI, captured 93 out of the 266 national assembly seats that were up from grabs. That's the largest share of any of Pakistan's political parties. Members of the

PTI were forced to run as independence, however, and they were barred from holding campaign rallies. Now, despite securing the most seats, it was still not enough to form a government. And the PMLN and PPP, while they still hold grievances against the PTI party from Kahn's time as prime minister. So their shared opposition to the PTI is what ultimately brought them together in the aftermath of the election. Despite the PMLN and PPP uniting behind a coalition government, members of the PTI are still challenging the results of what they claim was a stolen election. A number of groups have already filed legal challenges contesting the outcome, though, frankly, they aren't expected to go anywhere. the fragile truce addresses the leadership crisis facing Pakistan since February 8th,

observers are concerned, obviously, about what it means for long-term stability for this important player on the global stage. And did I mention that they are a nuclear power? And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, 22 February. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Because behind every headline is a bottom line.

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