Police on Wednesday raided an unlawful marijuana operation arrange inside an Eddington residence.
Deputies executed a search warrant about 9 a.m. at a Clewleyville Street dwelling, in line with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Workplace.
The raid was a part of “an ongoing energetic investigation into an organized marijuana-growing Chinese language group,” the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
Nobody was arrested throughout the raid, however the sheriff’s workplace mentioned proof was seized, although few particulars have been made public concerning the seizure.
“This investigation continues to display the harmful circumstances and unlawful actions occurring in these residential houses,” the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
It’s the most recent large-scale unlawful marijuana operation uncovered in Maine in latest months.
For the reason that starting of the brand new yr, police have been energetic in busting these giant operations, which have been discovered throughout rural Maine, from Guilford and Sangerville in Piscataquis County, to Corinna and Passadumkeag in Penobscot County, to Turner in Androscoggin County, to Cornville, Madison, Mercer, Norridgewock and Skowhegan in Somerset County, to Belgrade, China and Chelsea in Kennebec County, to Jefferson and Whitefield in Lincoln County.
These operations obtained larger scrutiny after the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Workplace discovered an unlawful marijuana develop home in Carmel, the place police seized 3,400 vegetation and 111 kilos of processed marijuana in late June. As 2023 dragged on, police uncovered different giant unlawful marijuana operations in Dexter, Wilton, Machias and different communities.
A leaked federal authorities memo, first obtained by the conservative Each day Caller and revealed in August, estimates Maine has 270 large-scale unlawful marijuana grows linked to organized crime teams in China. The memo’s authors notice that the cash could also be used to additional crime within the U.S. or be despatched again to China. These operations generate an estimated $4.37 billion in income.
Related operations have been present in California, Oklahoma and Oregon.
Maine’s congressional delegation has twice pressed the U.S. Justice Division to crack down on these unlawful marijuana operations, most not too long ago on Jan. 25, 2024.
“We applaud Maine legislation enforcement for his or her continued efforts to analyze and shutdown these unlawful operations, and we encourage the Division of Justice (DOJ) and different federal companions to offer further assist for these efforts. These unlawful rising operations are detrimental to Maine companies that adjust to State legal guidelines, and we urge the DOJ to close them down,” U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden mentioned of their January letter to Lawyer Common Merrick Garland.
No different details about the Eddington raid is being launched presently.
