DOJ Put On Notice: Maine's Top Lawmakers Demand Swift Action On Chinese Illegal Pot Operations

Maine's Congressional Delegation is calling on the Department of Justice to put an end to the presence of foreign-owned and unlawfully operated marijuana businesses statewide, reported WABI.

In a letter sent on Wednesday, Congress members Jared Golden, Chellie Pingree and Sens. Angus S. King, Jr. and Susan M. Collins voiced concerns about "alleged illegal Chinese marijuana growing operations."

Border Patrol officials were first to bring the issue into focus in a memo.

"According to that memo, law enforcement in the state have identified 270 suspected properties that have been used as illegal Chinese growing operations, producing an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue," the letter stipulates.

Moreover, the lawmakers requested answers from the DOJ on five questions in the letter.

They sought more insight into the following issues:

• How the department is addressing the issue of illegal growing operations, including those run by foreigners;
• How are the proceeds from these unlawful activities being transferred back to their country of origin;
• To what extent is the DOJ aware of the alleged Chinese ownership or any other foreign involvement in these operations;
• Who authored the memo in question, when it was initially obtained, and what actions have been carried out in response to it; and
• What measures is the DOJ implementing to shut down illegal marijuana growing operations statewide rapidly.

Cannabis has been legal for both medical and recreational use in Maine for years. A recent cannabis reform push from Republican Rep. David Boyer sought to allow marijuana advertising and deliveries to take place in commercial locations throughout the state.

Chinese And Cannabis In The U.S.

Meanwhile, Chinese crime groups seem to be eyeing illicit cannabis production nationwide.

A GOP state lawmaker said earlier this year that among one million acres of Oklahoma farmland currently owned by foreign entities, nations like China are 100% using the land for drug production.

"These are Chinese criminal organizations that are moving in, and you're not going to move in and move that much money without some awareness of the Chinese Communist Party and setting up," Sen. James Lankford during one of "Mornings with Maria" shows earlier this year, hosted by Maria Bartiromo. "Just in the last year, China has doubled the number of acres it has in the United States. They're buying up hundreds of thousands of acres across the country, and they're moving in criminal operations into the country."

Politico's Natalie Fertig wrote in March about a spike in the number of farms funded by sources that can be linked back to Chinese investors, especially in California, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and featured speaker at one of Benzinga's previous events traced the new trend in the cannabis industry to a case of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was spotted in Montana earlier this year.

"We've seen in recent weeks that the CCP's malign influence knows no bounds and, unfortunately, the cannabis industry is not immune to these tactics," Joyce told Politico.

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Photo: Courtesy of  Ryan Lange on Unsplash