The Maine State Police were welcomed inside an illegal drug trafficking operation in Belgrade, confirmed that the owner had no license to grow such massive amounts of marijuana, and then waited nearly six months before raiding the property.
The timeline of the operation is detailed in court records obtained by the Maine Wire as part of the ongoing investigation into what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has described as a sprawling drug trafficking operation controlled by “Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
According to an affidavit from Maine State Police (MSP) Trooper Marc Rousseau, an MSP trooper responded to multiple calls from people who suspected that the Belgrade residence, 24 Guptill Rd., was being used to cultivate marijuana illegally.
When, in July 2023, MSP Trooper Dezarae Fillmyer visited the location, she encountered Goufeng Huang, a resident of Quincy, Mass., whose car was known by police to frequent the location.
“In July 2023 Tr. Fillmyer was welcomed into the residence and observed a large-scale marijuana growing operation hidden from plain view inside the residence. She was allowed to take a picture and speak with Guofeng [Huang] about the growing operation. She asked Guofeng if he had a license to grow marijuana and he told her no,” said Rousseau.
Huang claimed to be the owner of the house, but a police review of records showed that the building’s legal owner is Ying Ci Mei, a resident of Brooklyn N.Y.
Huang openly admitted that he did not have a license to grow marijuana, but claimed that a friend was helping him to become licensed, but that the process would take months.
Although the MSP had received multiple reports of criminal activity at the Guptil Rd. residence, confirmed that Huang was operating a massive, unlicensed marijuana grow operation, and determined that he had lied about his ownership of the house, the agency took no further action until December.
According to the affidavit, MSP confirmed with the Office of Cannabis Policy and the Maine Department of Agriculture — sometime between July and December — that the individuals owning and operating the site did not have licenses to grow either cannabis or hemp.
[RELATED: Triad Weed: How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine…]
As part of their investigation, police also obtained utility records showing the house’s massive, $3,675/month electrical bill, something characteristic of marijuana grow sites, which need to power equipment involved in the indoor growing process.
MSP also interviewed the local trash pickup man, who reported picking up garbage that reeked of marijuana, along with empty fertilizer buckets.
It is unclear why MSP pursued additional investigative measures, like accessing power records and interviewing the garbage man, after a trooper entered the building in July, saw that it was being used to cultivate large amounts of marijuana, and obtained a voluntary confession from the resident that the activity was occurring illegally, without a license.
Finally, on Jan. 2, the MSP executed a search warrant at the house, and seized 1,512 plants.
Huang was not found during the police raid, but another man, Yuequan Chen, 44, of Mass., was arrested.
After a discussion with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, Rousseau determined that Chen was in the U.S. legally, though the records do not indicate whether he has legal permanent status or just a pending asylum claim.
Between the time when police became aware of the illegal operation in July, and the location was finally raided six months later, Huang and others involved could have had ample time to hide evidence, and the delay allowed Huang himself to escape arrest.
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Remarkably, however, it was Huang himself who showed up at the Kennebec County Correctional Facility two days after the arrest to post bail for Chen.
On the same day in Belgrade, law enforcement also executed a search warrant at 140 Point Road — about a mile from where Chen was arrested.
An illegal drug trafficking site was also found at that location, along with 66-year-old Chan Min Li, who was arrested and charged with Marijuana Cultivation (Class B), a felony.
Although Li’s attorneys told the court that he has been a U.S. citizen for more than 20 years and is a restaurant owner who lives in Hileah, Fla., they nonetheless demanded that a Cantonese-speaking interpreter be made available for any future court proceedings.
On the same day Chen was bailed out of jail, Li had bail posted by Jian Zhan Huang of Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Maine Wire reached out to the MSP and Rep. Daniel Newman (R-Belgrade) for comment on the situation, but neither the police nor Rep. Newman responded to requests for comment.
Although the court records do not indicate precisely how the two drug trafficking operations may be related, the timing of the raids and the proximity of the locations suggest a connection. Also, the bail conditions imposed on both Li and Chen forbid them from having any contact with one another while they are free on bail.
A law enforcement source who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said there could have been several reasons for the delay in executing the Belgrade search warrants.
[RELATED: Triad Weed: How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine…]
Those reasons include delays in obtaining approval from MSP leadership or higher priority police activities taking precedence over cannabis related matters.
As numerous raids have been carried out against illegal drug trafficking sites operating in Maine at the behest of Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations, the MSP have been remarkably uninvolved, with the vast majority of raids being undertaken by local Sheriffs without aid from state police.
Neither Gov. Janet Mills (D) nor the Mills-appointed Commissioner for the Department of Public Safety, Michael Sauschuck, have commented on the ongoing criminal conspiracy.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="27191 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=27191">3 Comments
I’m shocked that the State Police even investigated this. The agency responsible for enforcement of Maines marijuana law is the Maine Dept of Agriculture. Mainers got what they voted for, mayhem and lawlessness.
Someone high up must be getting kickbacks. This is a crap show. Nobody in position of power seems to care.
Your boy Grover Norquist once said he wanted a government so small “I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” See how that helps us from being over run by foreign nationals? No budget, no agents, no holding facilities, no deportations …