Somerset Sheriff Raids Madison Cannabis Grow with Ties to Norridgewock Site: 1,500 Plants, No Arrests

Nearly 1,500 illegally grown cannabis plants were seized Thursday after the the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at a property on the East Madison Road in Madison.

“The search warrant was obtained by the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Division, as it was believed that illegal marijuana plant cultivation activities were taking place at the residence,” Somerset Sheriff Dale Lancaster said in a press release.

A source in Madison confirmed that the property in question is located at 1034 East Madison Road. (According to Google Maps, the property is about 4.7 miles down the road from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, which is also on the East Madison Road.)

As with other recent raids at properties controlled by Chinese men and women from out of state, records related to the property point toward other illegal marijuana growing operations, according to an investigation by the Maine Wire.

Law enforcement seized 1,476 growing marijuana plants and several pounds of processed/harvested marijuana as part of the raid.

Other evidence of illicit drug related activities were located and seized, although Lancaster didn’t offer more specifics as to the nature of those activities or materials.

No arrests were made.

That 2,500 square foot residence was purchased in May 2021 under the name of Jacky Mai, a 29-year-old from Staten Island, New York.

Facebook accounts associated with Mai appear to have been deleted.

Eight months before Jacky Mai purchased the now-busted property in Madison, an individual by the name of Franky Mai purchased a nearby property in Norridgewock on the Old County Road.

According to the deed records for the two property purchases, both Franky and Jacky Mai listed 199 Braisted Ave., Staten Island, NY as their address.

Franky, 32, and Jacky, 29, purchased both properties in cash.

According to a source familiar with the Old County Road property, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for their safety, the property is an unlicensed marijuana growing site operated by an elderly Chinese couple, Sa Sa and Bo, who have represented themselves as Franky Mai’s parents.

Richmond County, NY, land records show that the 199 Braisted Ave residence that Franky Mai and Jacky Mai both listed on real estate records belongs to an individual named Yan Na Mai, 52, of San Francisco.

Records show the property was purchased in 2005 but recently transferred into a trust.

When the Staten Island property was transferred into the trust, Yan Na Mai gave their address as an apartment building in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

According to Sheriff Lancaster, the search warrant on the East Madison property was executed by Sheriff’s Office Detectives and Deputies, along with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, the IRS, U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy, and the Waterville Police Department.

The Sheriff’s press release did not include the Maine State Police or the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency among the law enforcement agencies involved in the raid.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck, the head of the Maine State Police, has yet to comment publicly on the growing number of Chinese-controlled marijuana trafficking hubs that have been busted over the past six months.

Gov. Janet Mills, who was once rated by a People’s Republic of China-linked think tank as one of America’s most pro-China governors, has not commented publicly on the string of raids and arrests.

According to D&C Think, a Beijing-based think tank, Gov. Mills was one of 17 U.S. governors rated as “friendly” in a 2020 report.

In 2019, senior Chinese diplomat Ping Huang attended Mills inauguration and later met with Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook).

Huang also met with then-Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, who, according to Xinhua, had just returned from his first trip to the People’s Republic of China.

It’s unclear whether Huang met with Mills during his trip to Maine.

The Somerset County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office assisted in this investigation, Lancaster said.

The Madison Code Enforcement Officer was also notified of potential building code violations.

According to Lancaster, criminal charges will be forthcoming if any suspects are identified or located.

“I am pleased that sheriff lancaster and his agency is taking the matter seriously and investigating to produce these kind of results,” said Madison Town Manager Denise Ducharme.

“I look forward to future enforcement actions,” she said.