PORTLAND, Maine — A home’s high electricity consumption, cardboard-covered windows and the smell of marijuana drew police attention to an illegal off-the-beaten-path grow operation in rural Maine.
The burglary of the home with a hidden grow operation and the seizure of nearly 40 pounds of processed marijuana marked the latest example of what authorities describe as a years-long trend of foreigners to exploit U.S. state laws that have legalized cannabis for recreational or medical use to grow marijuana. produce for the illegal markets in the US
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating international criminal organizations operating illegal marijuana cultivation in about 20 states, including Maine, attorney Garland Merrick Garland told the Senate committee this week, in response to a question from Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. .
Federal law enforcement officials said there are currently about 100 illegal growing operations in Maine, such as the one in Passadumkeag, about 60 miles north of Bangor, and about 40 search warrants have been served since June.
In Passadumkeag, Xisen Guo, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, has been accused of converting the home into a high-tech, illegal grow operation, according to court documents released this week.
He was held without bail Friday on federal drug charges, making him the first person to be federally charged in such a case in Maine. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday.
The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security, along with the FBI and DEA and local law enforcement, are working together to get to the bottom of illegal 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, according to court documents.
Illegal growing operations in the US began to emerge several years ago. In 2018, US authorities arrested a Seattle woman, conducted raids and seized thousands of marijuana plants during an investigation into an operation with Chinese ties. Oklahoma officials learned that straw owners in China and Mexico were conducting illegal activities after marijuana was legalized by the state for medical purposes in 2018.
The legality of marijuana consumption and cultivation in those states often provides cover for illegal growing operations, which may draw less attention, officials said. The marijuana is then trafficked in states where it is illegal.
In Maine, U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee said thwarting illegal growing operations with international connections is a priority for law enforcement, “and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal in this effort as appropriate.”
Law enforcement knows the snitches.
Police focused on the Passadumkeag operation in part because of the home’s utility bills that officers reviewed. After the house was purchased for $125,000 cash, electricity usage increased from about $300 a month to nearly $9,000, according to court documents.
That equates to heat pumps, expensive lighting and other equipment needed to grow marijuana, researchers said. The homeowner, a limited liability company, upgraded the electrical capacity to double what is found in a typical Maine home, documents show.
Guo’s lawyer did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press. Two others who were in the house at the time of the February police raid were released and not charged.
McElwee said law enforcement — from local and state police to the FBI and DEA — is beginning to make progress with the closure of “dozens of operations” in recent months.
“The potential involvement of foreign nationals using Maine property to profit from illegal marijuana operations and interstate distributions makes clear the need for a strong and sustained federal, state and local effort to shut down these operations,” she said .
Law enforcement officials also continue to investigate who runs the operations and where the profits go, she said.