After story broke on Tucker Carlson about Chinese pot-growing, human trafficking criminal outfit in Maine and elsewhere, feds step in today to finally make some arrests
About time. 270 grow houses later. What about the illegals that were doing the work? Where are they? And where are the Maine State Police?
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/seven-chinese-nationals-charged-alleged-roles-multi-million-dollar-money-laundering
Steve Robinson picks up the story.
The Robinson ReportFeds Charge Seven Chinese Nationals in Bay State Drug, Money Laundering, Smuggling SchemeSeven Chinese nationals are facing federal charges for allegedly running a multi-million-dollar illegal pot empire hidden in quiet neighborhoods across Massachusetts and Maine — complete with smuggled labor, secret grow houses, and mountains of cash…Read more2 months ago · 2 likes · The Robinson Report
Seven Chinese nationals are facing federal charges for allegedly running a multi-million-dollar illegal pot empire hidden in quiet neighborhoods across Massachusetts and Maine — complete with smuggled labor, secret grow houses, and mountains of cash.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, the accused turned suburban homes into unlicensed marijuana grow operations, then laundered the profits into real estate, Rolexes, and luxury cars.
SHAMELESS PLUG: A secret drug empire backed by China is taking over small towns across America—now exposed in this shocking documentary, only on the Tucker Carlson Network. Filmmaker Steve Robinson has doggedly pursued the story throughout Maine, exposing hundreds of illegal drug houses and the devastating toll the foreign criminal conspiracy has taken on rural America.
“This case pulls back the curtain on a sprawling criminal enterprise that exploited our immigration system and our communities for personal gain,” U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said Tuesday. “That ends today.”
Authorities say ringleader Chen, 39, of Braintree, Mass., smuggled Chinese nationals into the U.S., forced them to work at grow houses, and withheld their passports until they paid off their smuggling debts. He’s also charged with laundering millions in drug money and facilitating illegal immigration.
Jianxiong Chen and six others — Yuxiong Wu, 36; Dinghui Li, 38; Dechao Ma, 35; Peng Lian Zhu, 35; Hongbin Wu, 35; and Yanrong Zhu, 47 — were indicted on conspiracy charges to manufacture and distribute marijuana. Most also face money laundering counts. Yanrong Zhu remains on the run.
The group allegedly operated a web of marijuana grow houses in towns including Braintree, Melrose, and Greenfield, Mass., as well as in Maine. Federal agents say they communicated through a regional network dubbed the “East Coast Contact List,” linking Chinese growers and distributors across the Northeast.
Another raid that month at Ma and Zhu’s homes turned up more than 109 kilograms of weed, nearly $200,000 in cash, and a gold Rolex still wearing its $65,000 price tag.