Black market illegal grow operations set to make billions for Chinese nationals
Chinese nationals build billion-dollar marijuana operation on U.S. soil
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Mexican cartels have been the top dog of black-market marijuana trade in the U.S., according to the Washington Post. But now, border patrol says Chinese nationals quietly built a billion-dollar operation with illegal grow houses.
Experts say they show up with suitcases full of cash, ready to buy farmland in marijuana-friendly states. In Maine, border patrol was alerted to 270 different properties that were growing enough marijuana plants to produce an average of $4 billion a year.
“We have this increasing level of black-market activity that’s interfering with the state’s legal market and you have a lot of money laundering that’s taking place,” said Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Luke Niforatos.
Even though marijuana is legal in 24 states, banks still can’t accept business from the marijuana industry, which means it’s hard to keep track of the money coming in and out. That’s one of the reasons drug policy experts like Niforatos say marijuana-growing operations are booming on the black market.
“It’s concerning when you have U.S. senators like Susan Collins from Maine who are putting forth what’s called the Safer Banking Act, which would allow the marijuana industry to have access to the financial system,” said Niforatos. “With that bill in play right now — with what we’re learning about the cartel and other foreign actors — that’s a concern.”
However, Sen. Angus King and several other members of Congress say the Safer Banking Act is a solution, not a problem.
“I’ve co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to make it permissible for the marijuana businesses to use the banking system; that will allow more oversight and it will help us identify these farms,” said King. He went on, “We need to change the banking system so we can keep track of this money and we need to learn more about what these foreign-owned farms are all about.”
King said he and several other members of Congress reached out to the Justice Department last year to ask about the consequences of these illegal grow farms, and still have yet to hear back.
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