Police destroy suspected illegal Chinese marijuana grow in Maine

Authorities busted a suspected massive illegal Chinese marijuana grow in Maine on Tuesday, Wilton Police Department Chief Ethan Kyes said in a statement.

The Daily Caller News Foundation recently visited the site, which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had identified in an internal memo to this reporter obtained in August, notice of 270 suspected illegal Chinese marijuana grows throughout the state of Maine. The facility contained approximately 1,211 illegal live marijuana plants and approximately 200 pounds of illegal dried marijuana with an estimated street value of $1,000,000, Kyes. said.

The seizure occurred during a routine inspection at a licensed facility, where law enforcement was informed that there had been an unlicensed cultivation of cannabis in a different building on the same property, Kyes said.

“Wilton Police Department officers seized illegally grown marijuana that was destroyed as contraband. Wilton Police Department officers were assisted in their investigation by investigators from the OCP, Wilton Code Enforcement , Wilton Fire Department and Wilton Public Works,” Kyes said.

“The owner of the Weld Road property has no connection to the internal operations of the licensed or unlicensed marijuana grow facility. The identity of the person or persons responsible for the unlicensed marijuana grow facility license remains under investigation at this time. No further information will be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation,” Kyes said.

Maine residents voted yes to legalize marijuana in the state in 2016, while the use of medical marijuana has been legal since 1999. The sale of recreational equipment marijuana it was officially legalized in 2020.

During the DCNF’s visit to the property, along with dozens of other suspected illegal crops, there was a strong smell of marijuana outside and neighbors have reported some of it. Despite the growths operating in “plain sight,” law enforcement hasn’t been able to take down many of them, Stanley W. Bell, the police chief of Clinton, Maine, told the DCNF recently.

“I try to stay connected, I try to know what’s going on, but it didn’t hit anybody’s radar or anything,” Bell said, adding that the suspected illegal crops he knows are not licensed or registered in the state

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