Law enforcement raided an illegal, industrial-scale marijuana grow operation Tuesday morning in Wilton, ME at 128 Weld Road, the former location of the Bass Shoe Factory building.
Multiple sources, including the owner of the property, confirmed police activity at the 10,000 square foot warehouse behind the old shoe factory main building, a site the Maine Wire visited in mid-November.
At the time, a man who identified himself as the general manager of the property confirmed that the site was a marijuana grow that paid an estimated $30,000 per month in rent.
According to the general manager, the facility was operated by four Asian men who said they were from California, Washington, New York, and Massachusetts.
No individuals were apprehended in the course of the raid, according to a law enforcement source who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.
Law enforcement seized what is estimated to be more than $1,000,000 in marijuana and marijuana product from the location.
[Triad Weed: How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine]
The site was previously under investigation by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security for suspected ties to what the agency calls Asian Transnational Organized Crime, according to documents obtained by the Maine Wire.
In a memo first published by Jennie Taer of the Daily Caller News Foundation, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said the agency was aware of more than 270 such sites in Maine alone.
An investigation by the Maine Wire has located more than 100 hundred properties, mostly residential properties, operating as unlicensed marijuana grow facilities and owned by Chinese nationals.
One witness said he observed several dump trucks being loaded up and departing the site.
The property is owned by Travis Gray of Travis Gray Trucking. It is currently listed for sale at a price of $6 million.
Reached by phone, Gray said he had no knowledge concerning the illicit nature of the business his tenants were engaged in.
“I didn’t have any knowledge,” Gray said. “I did cooperate to the best of my ability, of course. That’s about all I know.”
“You try to do the best you can, do good business, and unfortunately some people don’t do right. That’s just how it is,” he said. “The rest of it is between the law enforcement and those guys.”
Gray said he did not interact with any federal or state law enforcement, only the local police department.
The Office of Cannabis Policy, the state agency that regulates legal marijuana businesses in Maine, has told the Maine Wire that it has no authority to investigate marijuana growing operations that are purely illegal.
Only two other properties in Maine have been raided by law enforcement, one in Carmel and one in Dexter.
The Carmel raid resulted in the seizure of more than 3,000 plants and the arrest of four Chinese men who are currently facing felony charges.
The raid in Dexter resulted in the seizure of nearly 1,000 plants but no arrests.
Neither the Wilton Police Department nor the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded to inquiries.
This story will be updated as the Maine Wire gathers more information about the operation and the participating law enforcement agencies.
Read more from the Maine Wire’s investigative series on organized drug crime in Maine:
TRIAD WEED
- How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine
- State Law Enforcement, Feds Struggle to Clamp Down on Illegal Chinese Drug Operations in Maine
- Maine Legislature Will Consider Proposal to Fight Chinese-owned Marijuana Operations
- Collins, Golden Renew Call for DOJ Action Against Illicit Chinese Marijuana Grows Following Maine Wire Report
Very Well Done Steve & All at MW!! God Speed!!
“Reached by phone, Gray said he had no knowledge concerning the illicit nature of the business his tenants were engaged in.”
…all-righty-then! This was not a little ranch house he was renting out, which, he could probably get away with making that comment. This was an INDUSTRIAL size operation and there’s no way you wouldn’t want to know the kind of ‘industry’ being run from it! I call BS!
Under democrat reign, Maine has changed it’s fabric from a once beautiful state to a drug infested state full of welfare mongers homeless people and illegals.
The whole world is seeing the disaster Janet Mills and her team of idiots at the state capitol have turned our state into.
Does the town planning board have to sign off on industrial activities within town borders?
Couldn’t find much on the web about the Trucking Company that owns the $6 million overall facility; that would seem like a pretty heavy financial lift for a small independent operator.
Though $30,000 a month in regular rental income seems like a tidy cash flow with no questions asked.
Hell, why sell the place, when you could convert it to the “Maine Center of Excellence” for marijuana production? Economy of scale ought to factor in for the entrepreneurs, no matter where they are from.
You would think the law enforcement organizations involved here would be bragging about their “success,” wouldn’t you?
Meanwhile, as Adam once said to Eve, “no telling how big this is going to get!”
So the feds pulled all their resources from human trafficking and illegal foreign pot operations and placed them on j6 insurrection arrests and incarceration. Fortunately that false flag narrative is falling apart as I write.
We have two very powerful voices in all of America that own homes and spend time here, they could turn that spotlight of theirs on what has gone on here under democrat destruction but chose not to. I have written to both personally asking them to please do one of their programs on what has happened to the state I was born and brought up in. All caused by democrats and will continue to until public shaming is brought to light as they ALL well deserve. Tucker Carlson and Dana White, if you CARE about this state as much as you SAY you do, why are you so afraid to tell your very large listening and viewing audience what hell our state has become? Massive amounts of homeless people, open hard drug use,the masssive amounts of farmland Chinese people have bought or rented and run pot farms on, illegals that the Maine Speaker of the House says we Mainers need to SUPPORT financially. The damage done to our lands and water due to PFA’s aka forever chemicals. Again, democrats especially Janet Mills that has ALLOWED it to happen. Shame on Dana and Tucker for turning their backs on the “state they love”.
We need to vote out our DC reps who are Democrats {An “INDEPENDENT and a RHINO”)
Remember when:
https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/pompeos-warning-to-governors-put-white-house-anti-ccp-position-in-context/
MAINE-..WELCOME to the World of Criminal Activity by the Chinese Communist Party CCP/ and the TRIADs. Very Long and detailed article. Very Good,Article ,as a NY’er.! I’m not surprised. Seen much more criminal activity in Queens NY from Prostitution to ILLEGAL MEDICARE FRAUD centers for Birthing Centers to Insurance Fraud. If you got GROW sites it probably originated in QUEENS NY. Home to the largest Asian Criminal Activity in the US. I’m Wondering , why didn’t the acronym. Not begin with an “A” as
ATOC.. Are the Feds following P.C. labeling.? I personally observed these activities, I know what your up against.Now Dig Deeper and watch what you come up with. Just be careful your newspaper doesn’t burn down from retaliation.
If grey won’t look in on the building of pay some slushface to check it every week, he doesn’t belong having it.
Paulie woulda seized the whole place faster than you can say homeland security
Hell, Paulie woulda rode over there himself and mollywhopped that lyin’ sack of shit all the way back to his momma’s house
Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
All tho planteds fool you stupid american, the real stuff, the hard stuff, the n a r c o t I c s are underneath all that. Fat tired american needs a truck of mexicans to do the digging lolololo!olololololo!!!!!
You never find it even if you do FBI just tell you it not there hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haha haha —– armed raid twenty fat american to capture empty grow house, they spent half hour sneaking up closer closer to empty grow house and then all at once BANG they use batter ram to knock down grow house door when it was unlocked hahahahahahahahahahah lolololololol hahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahaahaahaaahaaahaa haa haa lololololol hahahahah