Although marijuana is becoming increasingly legal state-by-state across the country, House chairs related to homeland security called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently to discuss Chinese-operated farms.
These elicit farms, their letter claimed, are increasingly associated with transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that make use of forced labor and other black market practices to enrich investors in China. At this point, the farms pose a growing national security threat, according to House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, MD (R-TN), Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) and Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA).
“Illicit Chinese-operated marijuana farms have been found across the country and pose significant risks to our nation’s security,” the congressmen wrote. “First, illicit marijuana farms provide unregulated access for consumers to Schedule 1 substances and help provide additional revenue sources to transnational criminal organizations. Many of these operations have also been found to have labor conditions that are emblematic of human trafficking and forced labor practices. In addition, Chinese investors have financed some of these illegal operations, and these investments include cash payment for large swaths of land to conduct these operations.”
They cited a supposedly leaked memo from DHS that identified more than 270 Chinese-backed marijuana operations in the state of Maine. Supposedly, they produced up to $4.3 billion in possible illicit revenue. In Oklahoma, the Bureau of Narcotics has also claimed that 80 percent of the illicit marijuana farms seized in the state have had ties to China. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond took it a step further.
“Organized criminals have overtaken the industry,” Drummond said. “Our law enforcement partners report that the foreign nationals most often involved in these illegal enterprises come from China or Mexico.”
Building on this, the federal lawmakers noted that congressional members have raised numerous concerns about real estate purchases with links to China, and sought to link spikes in violent crime to illegal grow operations.
As a result, they asked both the DHS and DEA to provide committee staff with a briefing on the subject by Jan. 25, 2024.