Of course, this phenomenon isn't restricted to just Vacation Land, but The Maine Wire seems to be the first to report on it

Triad Weed: How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine

Illegal Chinese marijuana grows have taken over much of rural Maine.

The government is either incapable — or unwilling — to do anything about it.

The Maine Wire has identified more than 100 properties that are part of a sprawling network of Chinese-owned sites operating as unlicensed, illicit cannabis growing operations in rural Maine.

According to an unclassified memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obtained by the Maine Wire, the illicit grows are operated by Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs).

The properties cover Somerset County, Penobscot County, Kennebec County, Franklin County, Androscoggin County, and Oxford County.

The sites were purchased over the past three years by single adults, primarily from New York and Massachusetts, using cash or financing arranged through a handful of mortgage companies.

The Maine Wire investigation began following the leak of a separate DHS memo that revealed the existence of more than 270 such sites in Maine.

That memo, first reported by Jennie Taer of the Daily Caller News Foundation, offered the first public confirmation of what law enforcement officials have long known, but what neighbors to these properties and legal marijuana entrepreneurs have only suspected.

Namely, that Chinese foreign nationals are exploiting Maine’s lax marijuana laws, the Biden Administration’s immigration policies, and cheap real estate in rural Maine to grow a fortune using exploited illegal alien laborers.

Nationwide, there are approximately 749 properties that DHS has linked to Asian TCOs.

The leaked memo included a spreadsheet, which has not been made public, that identified “270 properties within [Maine] that are actively used by the Chinese in relation to their operations.”

Local, state, county, and federal officials, speaking mostly on the condition of anonymity, have confirmed to the Maine Wire that various law enforcement agencies have known about this foreign network of illicit drug manufacturing and distribution for more than two years.

On Sept. 15, DHS sent the following memo to Maine law enforcement asking for help gathering intel on the properties:

We are requesting a response by state, county, and/or local law enforcement officials with any information regarding illegal marijuana grows being operated in their areas by suspected Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO). This collection effort is supporting a national intelligence gathering initiative to identify a comprehensive picture of the threat posed to national security by Asian TCOs operating illegally in the United States.

….

“There are hundreds of these operations occurring throughout the state. It’s upsetting to those who live near these operations, and even those who are following Maine laws and procedures,” Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton told the DCNF.

Maine’s congressional delegation has called upon the Department of Justice to shutter the operation, but Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to respond in writing.

Most of the properties were acquired after Maine legalized the sale of recreational pot in 2020.

According to the DHS memos, the sites are operated by Chinese foreign nationals, some who are in the U.S. illegally. DHS believes the network earns an estimated total income of $4.37 billion per year, some of which is returned to entities in the People’s Republic of China.

The locations of the sites — and the names of their owners — have not been publicly released.

(But the Maine Wire has, and includes pictures and addresses of a dozen or so of them)

Triad Weed in Rural Maine

Marijuana grown at these sites is notorious in Maine’s legal cannabis industry as “Triad weed.”

“When I say they function like a mafia, it is absolutely true,” one longtime veteran of Maine’s medicinal and recreational pot industry told the Maine Wire. “They have a very intricate network.”

Scrupulous dispensaries avoid purchasing or selling marijuana from the illicit grows because it has a reputation for containing pesticides, fungicides, and other banned or harmful contaminants.

But legal growers all agree that at least some Triad weed is entering Maine markets.

“I would say most of their product ends up skipping across the border,” the industry veteran said. “But the shit that stays in Maine is what is helping to contribute to the collapse of flower prices.”

The operators of these foreign-owned sites are also notorious around grow supply shops in Maine, where they are often found buying thousands of dollars in cultivation supplies.

Speaking little to no English, the operators acquire supplies by pointing at images on their phones or by having someone out-of-state translate over the phone.

According to DHS, the Asian TCOs use the proceeds of the marijuana grows to fund other illegal activities, including narcotics trafficking and human trafficking.

The DCNF reported, based on Maine and federal sources, that many of the participants in the operation are either in the U.S. illegally or have applied for asylum status or permanent residency.

Morton, the sheriff of Penobscot County, told DCNF most individuals under investigation for being involved in illegal marijuana grows aren’t U.S. citizens.

“Regardless of where the individuals are from, the true problem involves conflicting state and federal laws. We also have little to no oversight, allowing for criminal activity to occur at a high degree,” Morton said.

Morton declined to elaborate on those comments, instead referring the Maine Wire to the U.S. Attorney of Maine.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney of Maine declined to comment for this story.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the agency that published the original leaked memo, declined to comment on the memo.

“The US Border Patrol coordinates closely with our interagency partners when conducting investigations and when taking enforcement actions,” the spokesperson said. “It would not be appropriate for the USBP to comment on behalf of other agencies.”

“Furthermore, Border Patrol does not publicly disclose sources of information, investigative methods, or other information that may jeopardize the safety of witnesses or otherwise compromise any investigation,” said the spokesperson.

The Maine Wire offered to provide the U.S. Attorney of Maine and the Maine State Police with a list of illicit foreign-owned marijuana grows in Maine prior to the publication of this story, but both declined.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has been investigating illegal Chinese marijuana grows in Maine for at least two years, declined to comment for this story.

How nice of our government to open the borders to these workers.