PORTLAND, Maine ( AP ) — 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.
The home invasion, which involved a covert grow operation and the seizure of nearly 40 pounds ( 18 kilograms ) of processed marijuana, is the most recent illustration of what authorities call a decades-long trend of foreigners exploiting the U.S. S. states that have made marijuana legal for use for medical or recreational purposes to make it legal for the U.S. to sell it for the illegal industry. S.
The U. S. Attorney Garland Merrick Garland addressed the Senate Appropriations Committee this week in answer to a problem posed by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Federal law enforcement authorities said there now are about 100 illegal grow activities in Maine, like the one in Passadumkeag, about 60 kilometers (96. 5 meters ) north of Bangor, and about 40 search warrants have been issued since June.
In Passadumkeag, Xisen Guo, a immigrant U. S. member born in China, has been accused of transforming the property into a high-tech, illegal grow activity, according to judge records unsealed this year.
He was ordered held without loan on Friday on national drug charges, making him the first people to face federal charges in a similar situation in Maine. A reading on incarceration is scheduled for Monday.
According to Garland, the FBI, DEA, and local law enforcement are working together to uncover the truth about Maine’s illegal expand operations.
Marijuana was legalized in the state, but gardeners may be issued state licenses. According to court records, Guo was operating an unregistered activity, according to the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy.
the U.S.’s illegal grow businesses S. began to appear a few years back. In 2018, U. S. Authorities detained a Seattle person, conducted raids, and seize thousands of pot plants as part of an investigation into an operation with Taiwanese connections. After marijuana was legalized by the state for health purposes in 2018, Oklahoma leaders learned that grass users in China and Mexico were operating illegal activities.
According to officials, the constitutionality of marijuana use and agriculture in those states tends to give cover for unlawful increase operations, which may garner less media attention. The pot is then sold in states where it is prohibited.
In Maine, U. S. According to counsel Darcie McElwee, thwarting illegal growing operations with foreign connections is a top concern for law enforcement, and we will continue to use every resource at our removal in this effort as necessary. ”
Law enforcement officials know the tell-tale evidence.
Deputies had a review of the home’s value bills, which contributed to the police’s zeroing in on the Passadumkeag operation. After the home was purchased for$ 125,000 cash, the electricity use went from about$ 300 a month to as high as nearly$ 9,000, according to court documents.
That’s constant with heat pumps, expensive lights and other items needed to grow marijuana, investigators said. The buyer, a limited liability company, upgraded the electrical potential to increase what is found in a normal Maine house, according to documents.
Guo’s attorney did n’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press. Two others who were home at the time of the police raid in February were unarmed and released.
McElwee claimed that law enforcement is starting to advance with “dozens of operations ” shuttered over the past few months, from local and county police to the FBI and DEA.
There is a need for a strong and sustained federal, state, and local effort to shut down these operations, she said, “because the potential involvement of foreigners using Maine properties to profit from unlicensed marijuana operations and interstate distributions makes it clear that there is a need for strong and sustained efforts to do so.”
She said law enforcement officials are looking into who is running the operations and where the profits are going.
