Chinese Marijuana Farms in Maine?
Holy schnikes. We’ve got a live one. A few months ago, I came across a tweeted (X’ed?) photo that captured a moment on Laura Ingraham’s television show, The Ingraham Angle. It’s on Fox News at 7pm if you ever want something to help settle your anxiety before bedtime.
Laura was talking about an apparent epidemic of Chinese corporations buying up land in rural Maine, and then sprouting up illegal cannabis operations right in plain daylight.
Rural Maine! Someones gotta do something about this!
The timeline of this issue is hard to pinpoint. I am using all of the resources available to me to map out when and where Chinese investors began to grow illegal dope in the confines of America. A memo from the Department of Homeland Security was leaked in the summer, putting the issue on many people’s radars. There have been minor incidents since then and the news cycle is apparently cycling. But just as the calendar turned to February…we got some new hits.
A few days ago, WMTV Channel 8 news reported a story about a raid at a grow house in Turner, Maine. The authorities received a tip of a possible fire in a house. Only to discover that the apparent smoke was actually steam. Which was caused by it being hot as heck inside the house (due to heat lamps etc.,), and cold as shit outside. The feds made arrests of the individuals found inside. This incident is only one of dozens that have occurred in Somerset, Lincoln, and Androscoggin Counties in the last few weeks.
From what we know, these operations really are in plain daylight. Their headquarters are old farmhouses and ranch style homes on the winding roads of inland Maine.
According to my sources, one grow operation is right across the street from a children’s daycare! These ganja fumes are wafting into the noses of unsuspecting youths playing on jungle gyms and digging in the dirt with sticks! We can’t have that! Let's leave it to the parents and adjacent guardians to waft skunky smoke in the path of adolescents.
“Mommy Mommy! What’s that smell?”
“Oh no sweetie, that's just Mr. Skunky again. Daddy will go out and shoot it, won’t you Daddy.”
“Yeah, whatever, I’ll shoot that skunk that’s making all this stinky smoke.”
The citizens of rural Maine should be more worried about the quality and prices at their local general store, and whether or not the ice will stay frozen for a good ice fishing season.
Jim Keathy, reporting for WMTV, estimated a figure of 270 possible illegal grow operations in Maine. Jim went on to report that the feds are asking local citizens to follow the timeless, “See something, say something” policy. I sure will. However, Jim might have been missing important variables to this story.
Further searches led me to an WGME Channel 13’s website where two articles detail the situation from a different angle. The first article written by Stephanie Grindley expounded on the efforts of Senator Angus King and Representative Jared Golden to spread concern about the illegal growing operations. They have worked to identify this as an issue of National Security, a status that would wake up the DHS and DOJ. They cite details in that memo sent out in the summer that point to a widespread network of Chinese corporations buying land for criminal operations.
Now, let’s talk about the Chinese corporations. These corporations are undoubtedly in the underbelly of the criminal network. Grindley’s article suggests that the Chinese nationals who have been arrested, may be the victims of human trafficking, a situation that has popped up in other states around the country and is one of the top issues that smart people always say is, “way bigger than people know and can imagine”.
A second article published by WGME on January 31st highlights six arrests made recently in Lincoln county. Reporter Anna Coon dives into the profiles of these arrested Chinese nationals and what the authorities are doing as they gather information and make arrests. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office has reportedly found over 6,000 illegal marijuana plants in January. Coon reports that Senator Susan Collins has voiced ardent concerns about the Justice Department’s underestimation of this issue, which in some respects, makes sense. Illegal Chinese marijuana operations in rural Maine? It takes a little bit of time to put these pieces together, and that is what we at howiehottakes.com are trying to do for our readers.
The twist of this story comes from pieces that apparently nobody else is putting together in one article. Well, except for Steve Robinson, the Editor-in-chief at the Maine Wire, an organization that describes themselves as being, “dedicated to holding power people and institutions accountable.” I’m all for that, but their right wing propaganda memes featuring politicians with lasers coming out of their eyes, and a cheap, ad-strewn website make me wonder. Also, I think you might mean “powerful people”, not “power people”. What’s a power person? #grammarpolice. Nevertheless, Steve has been on the case for a long time, and I thank him for that.
Anyways, Coon reports for WGME that many of the arrested Chinese nationals told the authorities that they have not been paid in years. Huh? Ok, let’s spell this summary out:
A leaked DHS memo reported widespread illegal Chinese marijuana farms in Maine.
Arrests have been scattered throughout the fall and into the winter.
Local authorities have been working for more state level support.
State level authorities have been working for more federal support.
The feds are spinning their tires and underestimating the issue.
Now, circling back to the memo that mentioned concerns about human trafficking, I can say with just the slightest bit of reasonable doubt that these operations are run by human traffickers. It might be more complicated than this, but is it? These Chinese workers are controlled by a Communist Party adjacent operation that ships workers to rural parts of the US to sprout up illegal operations. Promises are made, but not delivered. The living and working conditions are awful. AND THEY ARE NOT GETTING PAID. Why would somebody work, not get paid, and then stay quiet about it until they get arrested. Well, it’s because they are scared. Their lives are threatened and they are so deep in the system that there is no chance for escape, except ironically, through an arrest. A few of these mug shots show tired looking folks with slight smiles on their faces. Maybe the jailhouse is an upgrade and a chance for them to access humane assistance beyond a defense lawyer.
This is the story at the crux of the issue.
The hard working, law abiding marijuana growers and sellers out there being undercut by illegal operations, but it is not the fault of the indentured workers. It is the Chinese coporations trafficking workers and placing them in involuntary servitude with a false agreement of employment.
There will be more to come…but the DOJ and DHS need to get their asses out of bed and attack this issue at the source.
Main Sources for your perusal:
