(Daily Caller) Lucrative Chinese illegal marijuana grow operations are popping up all over Maine, according to a federal memorandum distributed within Border Patrol that was obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Law enforcement in Maine identified 270 suspected properties used for Chinese illegal marijuana grow operations that could produce an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue, the July memo states. Chinese nationals who either have resident status in the U.S. or asylum claims that prevent them from being removed from the country tend to operate such grows, a federal law enforcement source, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, told the DCNF.
“We think the Chinese are taking advantage of rural areas, like Maine, to produce marijuana to sell across state lines and funnel the profits back to China,” the federal law enforcement source said.
The memo included a heat map showing that large areas of Maine are occupied by Chinese illegal marijuana grows, generating profits that are sent to China.
Internal federal law enforcement document obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation
Voters chose to legalize marijuana in Maine in 2016, while medical marijuana use has been legal since 1999 and was decriminalized in 1976. The sale of recreational marijuana became legal in 2020.
“There’s no deterrence,” former head of the DEA’s Special Operations Division Derek Maltz told the DCNF. “Criminals are masters at taking advantage of the vulnerabilities.”
Meanwhile, Maine allows residents that are at least 21 years of age to grow as many as three mature plants and 12 immature plants for personal use, according to the state’s Office of Cannabis Policy.
Authorities in Bangor, Maine, recently busted an illegal grow operation with 3,400 individual marijuana plants as well as 111 pounds of processed marijuana, according to WABI 5, a local news outlet.
“There are hundreds of these operations occurring throughout the state. It’s upsetting to those who live near these operations, and even those who are following Maine laws and procedures,” Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton, whose office was involved in the bust, told the DCNF.
There are roughly 749 properties associated with individuals tied to operations in Maine and the state of Washington, according to the memo.
When Chinese criminal organizations are involved, there is often collaboration with Mexican cartels, Maltz said.
“They take the cash from the cartels in America, and they buy these properties and they do these investments with cash from the Mexican cartels in our own country. This is part of their laundering scheme,” Maltz said.
