High electricity consumption of a home, its cardboard-covered windows and odor of marijuana drew law enforcement’s attention to an illicit grow operation in rural Maine. The bust of the home and seizure of nearly 40 pounds of processed marijuana marked the latest example of a yearslong trend of foreign nationals exploiting state laws that have legalized cannabis for recreational or medical use to produce marijuana for the illicit markets, reports the Associated Press. The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating international criminal organizations that are operating illegal marijuana grows in about 20 states, Attorney Garland Merrick Garland told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Federal law enforcement officials said there are 100 illicit grow operations in Maine, like the one in Passadumkeag, 60 miles north of Bangor, and 40 search warrants have been issued since June. Xisen Guo, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, has been accused of transforming the house into a high-tech, illicit grow operation. The Internal Revenue Service and Department of Homeland Security, along with the FBI and DEA and local law enforcement, are working to get to the bottom of the illicit grow operations in Maine, Garland said. The state legalized adult consumption of marijuana, but growers must be licensed by the state. The Maine Office of Cannabis Policy said Guo was operating an unlicensed operation. Illicit grow operations across the U.S. began cropping up several years ago. In 2018, authorities arrested a Seattle woman, conducted raids and seized thousands of marijuana plants during an investigation of an operation with Chinese ties. Oklahoma officials said straw owners in China and Mexico were running illegal operations after marijuana was legalized by the state for medical purposes in 2018. The legality of marijuana consumption and cultivation in those states provides cover for illegal grow operations. The marijuana is trafficked in states where it’s illegal.
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