Police have raided another seven large-scale illegal marijuana operations across two Maine counties.
That includes raids on two properties in Whitefield in Lincoln County and one in Chelsea in Kennebec County on Tuesday, as well as two properties in Jefferson in Lincoln County and another in Whitefield last week, according to the Kennebec Journal.
Those raids resulted in six arrests and the seizure of 6,066 marijuana plants, which would yield an estimated 107 pounds of processed marijuana, the Journal reported.
Police arrested Weihuan Liu, 41, in Whitefield; Huan Ying Li, 57, in Whitefield; Zhen Zhong Chen, 45, in Jefferson; Ming Da Li, 41, in Chelsea; Wan Ting Xiao, 50, in Whitefield; and Ding Zhan Liao, 49, in Whitefield. A seventh person, 61-year-old Xiangming Yi, fled when police raided a Whitefield growhouse on Jan. 10 and remains at large, according to the newspaper.
All seven face charges including unlawful marijuana trafficking, cultivating marijuana and criminal conspiracy.
News of the raids comes just days after Maine’s congressional delegation renewed its calls for the U.S. Justice Department to crack down on illegal marijuana operations tied to China.
Before these raids, police had arrested eight people and seized more than 4,400 marijuana plants from such operations since the start of the year, according to the letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland dated Jan. 25, 2024.
In Cornville, sheriff’s deputies seized 750 marijuana plants and 90 pounds of processed marijuana, all worth an estimated $200,000. Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster described the operation as “very-well organized” during a county commissioners meeting on Jan. 17. In Belgrade, police arrested two people and seized 2,300 marijuana plants on Jan. 2, while in the town of China, three people were arrested and police seized 970 plants and many more seedlings on Dec. 30.
Those are just the latest large-scale illegal marijuana operations uncovered in the past year. They received greater scrutiny after the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office found an illegal marijuana operation in Carmel, where police seized 3,400 plants and 111 pounds of processed marijuana in late June. Since then, other large illegal marijuana operations have been found in Dexter, Wilton, Machias, Orland and other communities.
A leaked federal government memo, first obtained by the conservative Daily Caller and published in August, estimates Maine has 270 large-scale illegal marijuana grows connected to organized crime groups in China. The memo’s authors note that the money may be used to further crime in the U.S. or be sent back to China. Maine’s congressional delegation noted that these operations generate an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue.
Similar operations have been found in California, Oklahoma and Oregon.
When that memo first emerged over the summer, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden sent a letter to Garland, calling on the Department of Justice to crack down on such illegal marijuana operations.
Police believe the marijuana from these operations is being taken out of state, but are unsure where, the Kennebec Journal reported.
The raids in Lincoln and Kennebec counties came after receiving a tip from the U.S. attorney general’s office, according to the newspaper. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation.
It’s not yet clear whether these illegal marijuana operations are connected with each other or to the crime network described in the federal memo.
