Illicit Marijuana Grow Near U.S. Army Base in Maine Tied to Chinese Communist Party’s NYC Consulate

In the town of Dexter, Maine, a seemingly abandoned property on Highland Avenue that once operated as an illicit marijuana cultivation site sits less than a mile from the U.S. Army Reserve Training Center on Prospect Street.

In the driveway of that abandoned drug hub sits a BMW containing t-shirts affiliated with the Sijiu Association of NYC — a Chinese national group with ties to the Chinese consulate in New York and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Photographs obtained by the Maine Wire show the t-shirts strapped over the driver and passenger side seats in the BMW. In addition to the BMW, there is cargo van at the property that appears to have been customized on the inside with bench seating to transport a large number of individuals.

The discovery is among the first overt connections between Chinese nationals aligned with the CCP and the sprawling network of illicit drug trafficking sites located throughout rural Maine.

Pro-CCP associations in America function similarly to the pro-Nazi German-American Bund groups active in the U.S. during the 1930s.

The members of such Chinese-American organizations are loyal to the Communist Party, and the groups work to ensure that Chinese nationals living abroad remain faithful to the CCP.

The associations are all linked to the CCP United Front Work Department (UFWD), which is responsible for influence and espionage operations in the U.S.

According to the federal government, UFWD operatives aim, among other things, to gain influence over individuals and organizations.

Individuals and groups operating under the banner of UFWD have been linked to organized crime in Europe, as well as to illegal election influence campaigns in Canada.

[Triad Weed: How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine…]

Public affairs personnel for the U.S. Army declined to respond to an email asking whether the military was concerned about the proximity of foreign organized crime facilities to its base in Dexter.

The Dexter property where the pro-CCP merchandise has been found was purchased by Du Zhen Li of Brooklyn, New York, in Feb. 2021.

Shortly after that time, the neighbors began to notice a flurry of activity, including significant construction and cement work inside the house, and regular deliveries of growing supplies. The cement was likely used to create large cisterns where water for plants and other chemicals can be mixed prior to distribution throughout the growing areas via water pumps.

Then came the obvious odor of marijuana.

The neighbors noticed other strange occurrences with their new neighbors as well. Once, for example, a large white van slid out of the driveway and into the main road where it stayed for several hours. When the local police arrived to get the van moved, none of the residents would answer the door, and the van was eventually towed.

[RELATED: Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Brother Helped Transfer Nine-Acre Black Market Cannabis Grow to Chinese National “Mother” Living in Guangdong Province: Triad Weed…]

The neighbors also thought it strange that even in the depths of winter no smoke ever came out of the chimney, likely because the marijuana growing lights generated enough heat to keep the house warm.

Dexter, like many towns where illicit Chinese-owned marijuana growing operations have taken root, has opted out of Maine’s legal marijuana program — meaning large-scale marijuana cultivation of the kind that occurred on Highland Avenue is prohibited within city limits.

Although more than three dozen illicit marijuana grows have been the subject of search warrants executed by Maine law enforcement, a Department of Homeland Security memo leaked last year indicated that more than 270 properties throughout the state are being used by Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations to produce and distribute illicit drugs.

According to that memo, the 270 properties are clustered around the I-95 corridor, which “is the main transport route for bulk cash, illegal narcotics, and illegal aliens.”

[RELATED: How the U.S. Treasury Department Helps Chinese Organized Crime Transform American Homes Into Drug Dens…]

Dexter was among the first towns in Maine to see a Chinese-owned marijuana grow disrupted when, in early 2022, a traffic stop led to the discovery of a massive marijuana grow on Acadia St., an operation that saw all but one room of the house converted to grow cannabis.

The property, now owned by a family from Cape Cod, still smells of marijuana on warm days as its internal vacuum system was used for marijuana processing.

Although local law enforcement are aware of the illicit marijuana growing facility on Highland Ave and several others in Dexter, no enforcement actions have been taken.

Michael Lucci is the president of State Armor, a recently formed think tank that helps state governments understand how they can protect their states from the malign influence of the CCP.

Lucci said Maine must make policy changes if it hopes to effectively combat the pernicious influences of CCP-backed criminal organizations.

“Mainers should quickly crack down upon Triad gang members and communist agents operating on Maine soil in a massive criminal program,” Lucci told the Maine Wire.

[RELATED: Three Chinese Nationals Caught Sneaking Into Maine from Canada Amid Asian Organized Crime Epidemic…]

“It’s bad enough that these criminals are illegally growing and trafficking drugs. But they also display loyalty to foreign powers like the Chinese Communist Party,” said Lucci.

“Maine land should not be for sale to communist agents,” he said. “Deeper investigations are needed to bring sunlight to the ties between these criminals and foreign adversaries. Furthermore, Maine needs laws so that all these bad actors have to register and be monitored as foreign agents.”

Lucci said Maine’s political leadership needs to take action and decisively show that the state is going to stick up for itself when foreign criminals traffic drugs, surround US military bases, and express loyalty to adversary powers.