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During a legislative session, Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) Director John Hudak acknowledged that his department has been knowingly issuing marijuana cultivation licenses to individuals connected with Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO). Addressing the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, Hudak explained that current state regulations prevent his office from denying these medical licensing applications.
The issue revolves around illegal cannabis operations in Maine, particularly those allegedly run by Asian TCOs with Chinese connections. Hudak, who previously worked as a Brookings Institution fellow, revealed that TCO-affiliated individuals whose operations were previously raided are now exploiting the medical license application system to continue their illegal activities while avoiding detection.
READ NOW: Maine Admits Licensing Transnational Criminal Organizations to Grow Marijuana — 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…https://t.co/AxZj7ipxKn
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“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,” Hudak stated.
The matter gained national attention when Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray about these foreign criminal enterprises during a June FBI budget hearing. The discussion followed a recent raid by Somerset County Sheriff’s Office that uncovered an illegal growing facility containing 1,500 marijuana plants and over 30 pounds of processed marijuana, situated near a daycare center.
Collins sought answers about the motivations behind these operations, asking 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?”
Trump said he’s starting to “agree a lot more” that people shouldn’t be arrested for marijuana given that it’s being legalized across the country
Says he’ll be making a big announcement soon
Is Trump planning to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level?
If so, this… pic.twitter.com/xssoKZOxcX
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In response, Wray disclosed ongoing FBI investigations into potential connections between these operations and the Chinese government, though no definitive links had been established. He noted increasing evidence connecting these growing operations to Chinese organized crime. Wray explained the appeal of marijuana cultivation to Chinese TCOs, stating, “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 been leading initiatives to combat these operations, which she believes facilitate money laundering for criminal activities, including fentanyl trafficking. The recent revelation about state officials knowingly providing licenses to these operations may complicate federal efforts to curtail foreign TCO activities within Maine.
