Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) Director John Hudak told state legislators he is aware that his office has been issuing marijuana grow licenses to persons associated with Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO). On Wednesday, Hudak told members of the state legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee that his agency cannot deny the medical licensing requests.
Hudak told the committee members that state statutes did not give his office the authority to deny the licenses to the suspected Transnational Criminal Organizations. Hudak’s statements were made in response to concerns about illegal cannabis cultivation in parts of Maine that are believed to be controlled by Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations, including those with connections to China.
Hudak, a Brookings Institution fellow, told the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee legislators that individuals associated with the TCOs who have had to grow operations raided by authorities in the past are now using the medicinal license application process to continue their illicit activity and avoid law enforcement scrutiny.
Hudak elaborated saying “They’re applying so they can have a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, or what they perceive as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card to continue to do the operations that they’re doing.”
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) addressed the issue of foreign criminal organizations operating in her state with FBI Director Christopher Wray during a June FBI budget hearing just days after a Somerset County Sheriff’s Office raid shut down an illegal growing operation that involved 1,500 marijuana plants and more than 30 pounds of processed marijuana. The unlawful growing operation was located adjacent to a daycare.
During the hearing, Collins asked Wray, “What is the theory about why Chinese nationals or Chinese Transnational Criminal Organizations are setting up these illegal marijuana growing operations in states like Maine?”
Wray responded saying the FBI was actively conducting several investigations into the connections between illegal grow operations and the Chinese government itself. Still, no clear connections had been established at the time. Wray did, however, acknowledge the agency is seeing more ties between the growing operations and Chinese organized crime. As for why the Chinese TCOs are choosing to engage in illicit marijuana cultivation, Wray went on to say, “Our assessment is that it’s a combination of the fact that it is activity that can be done relatively cheaply, and by comparison to other drugs in the United States, the consequences that they face from a legal perspective are not as severe as that they might be in other countries where they might also want to operate.”
Collins has spearheaded several efforts to address the issue that she believes is assisting the Chinese TCO’s to launder money for other purposes, including to bring more fentanyl into the country. The latest admission that state licensing officials knowingly provide cover for the illicit growing operations will likely hinder federal efforts to crack down on the foreign TCOs operating within the state.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
