An investigation by the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) has uncovered that several individuals accused of operating an illicit marijuana farm in rural Maine have significant connections to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization involved in intelligence and foreign influence operations.
Two of the accused, who have pleaded not guilty, are leaders of the Sijiu Association of New York, a nonprofit based in Brooklyn. This organization reportedly maintains close relations with the Chinese Consulate in New York and the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which is a key influence and intelligence agency of the CCP. Chinese government documents and state-run media reports reveal that various officials from the Sijiu Association are affiliated with UFWD branches, and the nonprofit has allegedly provided funding for UFWD projects.
According to reports by the Maine Wire, illegal marijuana operations run by Chinese nationals have been discovered in repurposed homes, former schools, mills, recycling centers, and other industrial sites across the state. Police raids have resulted in the seizure of hundreds of pounds of marijuana and thousands of cannabis plants at single sites, with some busts also revealing methamphetamine or banned fumigants.
“We’ve identified and visited more than 150 illegal Chinese marijuana growing operations throughout the state of Maine,” Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Maine Wire, told the DCNF. “The neighbors are terrified, and legitimate marijuana businesses are collapsing due to the illegal competition.”
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo obtained by the DCNF in August 2023 listed 270 suspected Chinese-run illegal marijuana grow sites across Maine. The documents were provided by a federal law enforcement source who requested anonymity due to restrictions on public statements.
Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, suggested these grow operations offer a financial lifeline to CCP-affiliated entities overseas that may face limitations due to U.S. banking laws or sanctions. “What makes the Maine example uniquely disturbing is the direct linkage of grow operations to CCP-tied civic associations in New York — specifically those operating under the umbrella of the UFWD,” said Blair, a former Border Patrol Agent and Army veteran. “This fusion of transnational organized crime, political warfare infrastructure, and ideological alignment suggests these operations may be dual-use: criminal on the surface, but strategic in effect.”
The DCNF’s review of police records, Chinese state media, and local investigations revealed that two members of the Sijiu Association were arrested in 2023 during a raid at a Maine property believed to be part of a wider illegal grow network.
Records from Chinese state sources and media coverage indicate that the Sijiu Association and its leadership have deep-rooted links with the UFWD. A House Select Committee memo describes the UFWD as a unique mix of “engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations” used by the CCP to shape political environments and foreign policy favorable to the People’s Republic of China.
Concerns about illegal marijuana cultivation in the town of Carmel, located roughly 20 miles from Bangor, were first brought to local authorities in October 2022. According to the police report, the town manager alerted the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office about suspected grows at three separate properties. A raid conducted on June 29, 2023, uncovered 3,455 cannabis plants and 111 pounds of processed marijuana. Four Chinese nationals were arrested at the scene, including 64-year-old Huang Weizhan, who reportedly told officers he was “the boss.”
During his interrogation, Huang Weizhan reportedly stated that “all the Chinese people are growing marijuana” along the interstate corridor between exits 130 and 244. He admitted to selling marijuana, claiming buyers were arranged by a friend named “Rong,” and ominously added that he might “be dead” due to borrowing money from a “relative/friend,” as per the police report.
The Sijiu Association’s possible involvement in illegal marijuana farming first came to light in May 2024 during a Maine Wire investigation of a property in Dexter. At the seemingly abandoned house on Highland Avenue — previously used for cannabis cultivation — reporters found a BMW containing t-shirts linked to the association.
