U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, continues to question leaders of federal agencies about their 2027 budget requests.
Collins, who is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took a moment during a hearing on Wednesday to ask FBI Director Kash Patel and Drug Enforcement Administrator Terrance Cole about efforts to crack down on illegal marijuana grow operations in Maine.
“Last year, you testified that the FBI would be sending more resources to the field, specifically to Maine, to combat these dangerous operations,” Collins said to Patel. “Bring me up to date on how the FBI is working to address these dangerous grow houses that are operating not just in Maine — although we’re a particular target — but in Oklahoma, California and other states, as well.”
“The Homeland Security Task Forces that we stood up in 59 locations across the country, co-led by [the Department of Homeland Security] and the FBI, have specifically targeted the marijuana grow house operations, especially tied to the Chinese,” Patel answered. “There’s two problems there. The Chinese nationals that are doing most of the criminal activity related to the grow houses have either severed ties or covered their tracks very well and have left us unable to determine their direct connectivity. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist back to mainland China. That’s kind of their M.O. on what they do, whether it’s grow houses or any other criminal activity.
“So what we’re doing with the HSTFs is reverse engineering those programs, taking down the grow houses, whether they’re in Maine or Oklahoma, and tracing their banking records and their financial statements to see what we can do with the sanctions program overseas and shut down the financiers of these operations,” Patel added.
During the Senate Appropriations hearing, Collins said a Homeland Security memo in 2023 estimated that Maine had as many as 270 Chinese-backed illegal marijuana operations that were producing up to an estimated $4.3 billion in illicit revenues.
Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.