PORTLAND, Maine — The high electricity consumption of a home, its cardboard-covered windows and odor of marijuana drew law enforcement’s attention to an illicit grow operation off the beaten path in rural Maine.
Federal law enforcement officials said there currently are about 100 illicit grow operations in Maine, like the one in Passadumkeag, about 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) north of Bangor, and about 40 search warrants have been issued since June.
In Passadumkeag, Xisen Guo, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, has been accused of transforming the house into a high-tech, illicit grow operation, according to court documents unsealed this week.
The Internal Revenue Service and Department of Homeland Security, along with the FBI and DEA and local law enforcement, are working together to get to the bottom of the illicit grow operations in Maine, Garland said.
The illicit grow operations across the U.S. began cropping up several years ago.
The legality of marijuana consumption and cultivation in those states tends to provide cover for illegal grow operations, which may draw less attention, officials said.
That’s consistent with heat pumps, costly lighting and other gear needed to grow marijuana, investigators said.
Law enforcement officials also continue to investigate who is directing the operations and where the profits are going, she said.
PORTLAND, Maine — Law enforcement was alerted to an illegal grow operation off the beaten path in rural Maine by the home’s high electricity consumption, cardboard-covered windows, and marijuana-like smell.
Nearly 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of processed marijuana were seized during the raid of the house housing a covert grow operation, and this was the most recent instance of what authorities describe as a years-long trend of foreign nationals taking advantage of U.S. S. marijuana for the black markets in the United States is produced under state laws that have legalized cannabis for medical or recreational use. s.
The USA. S. Responding to a question from Republican Sen. Jim Inhofer, the Attorney General Garland Merrick Garland informed the Senate Appropriations Committee this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration is looking into foreign criminal organizations that are running illegal marijuana grows in about 20 states, including Maine. Susan Collins from Maine.
According to federal law enforcement officials, since June, about 40 search warrants have been issued for approximately 100 illicit grow operations in Maine, including the one in Passadumkeag, which is located approximately 60 miles (96 point 5 kilometers) north of Bangor.
Xisen Guo, a naturalized U.S. citizen, in Passadumkeag. s. , a Chinese citizen, has been charged with turning the home into a sophisticated, illegal grow operation, according to court records revealed this week.
On Friday, he was charged federally with drug offenses, becoming the first person in Maine to face federal charges in this kind of case. He was ordered held without bail. There will be a detention hearing on Monday.
To find out more about the illegal grow operations in Maine, the FBI, DEA, Department of Homeland Security, and local law enforcement are collaborating, according to Garland.
The state has legalized marijuana use for adults, but growers need to obtain a license from the government. According to court documents, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy stated that Guo was running an unlicensed business.
Illegal growing operations in the United States. S. started to appear a few years back. 2018 saw U.S. s. While looking into an operation with Chinese connections, police in Seattle detained a woman, carried out raids, and took thousands of marijuana plants. Following the state’s 2018 medical marijuana legalization, Oklahoma authorities discovered straw owners in China and Mexico were conducting illicit businesses.
According to officials, the legality of marijuana use and cultivation in those states often serves as cover for illicit grow operations, which may receive less publicity. After then, the marijuana is trafficked in states where it is prohibited.
Here in Maine, U. S. Law enforcement’s top priority, according to attorney Darcie McElwee, is to disrupt illicit growing operations with global connections, and they “will continue to marshal every tool at their disposal in this effort as appropriate.”. “.
Law enforcement officers are aware of the warning indicators.
Deputies’ examination of the house’s utility bills contributed to police focusing on the Passadumkeag operation. According to court documents, after the home was bought for $125,000 in cash, the monthly electricity use increased from roughly $300 to almost $9,000.
Investigators found that this is consistent with the expensive lighting, heat pumps, and other equipment required for growing marijuana. According to records, the home’s owner, a limited liability company, increased the electric capability to twice that of a normal Maine house.
An Associated Press call was not promptly answered by Guo’s lawyer. When the police raided the house in February, two more people who were present were let go without being prosecuted.
McElwee claimed that despite “dozens of operations” being shut down over the past few months, law enforcement, from the FBI and DEA to local and county police, is beginning to make progress.
“It is obvious that there is a need for a strong and sustained federal, state, and local effort to shut down these operations given the potential involvement of foreign nationals using Maine properties to profit from unlicensed marijuana operations and interstate distributions,” she stated.
She added that law enforcement officers are still looking into who is running the show and where the money is going.
