Black market weed tied to Chinese criminal networks seized in Maine

CBS News investigates illicit marijuana grow operations tied to Chinese criminal networks in Maine.
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[@stuckinfoned79]

If it's legal to grow, possess, buy, and transport there wouldn't be any law breakers. "Legalization" is just "Privatization"

[@greggreg2263]

The Chinese have been growing weed here for a long time. They don’t grow very good weed because they’re not weed smokers😑

[@James-vl1xd]

Real TALK, they are more into opium

[@yesyup9111]

Lol you foos are talking like it’s the 1890s

[@greggreg2263]

@@yesyup9111 was there quite a bit of Chinese grow ups back in those days

[@TK-ur2el]

Chinese gangs have been mass producing black market weed in the USA since the 80’s-90’s. They ruined bubba kush haha

[@danhindman3195]

Their still criminals

[@zachprice2652]

As an electrician, a 400 amp service isn't that much. We put them on custom houses all the time.

[@jungyi27]

Thank you lmfao.

[@user-pr5go6nx2l]

wow grocery store sized

[@ugk26]

The only way to get rid of this is to lower taxes on weed. In illinois, it’s like 540 an ounce. No wonder people are going to the black market. It was never about people’s health, it was just a money grab.

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

If you ain't rich, you ain't sheet.

[@ugk26]

@@Novastar.SaberCombat What does that even mean? Lol

[@greenmandan]

Agreed,,I'm in KY with medical cannabis and travel to Marion IL and yes it's expensive there lol

[@ugk26]

@@greenmandan If you can get to michicgan, you can get ounces of absolutely amazing flower for 140-180 bucks. Blows most places out of the water. 200mg edibles for 10 bucks, just insane. Michigan does it right. Cheers!

[@aracnid007]

@@ugk26 It's legal here in Ohio now, but still not available. When it is, I'm guessing it's going to be stupid expensive and people will still go up to Michigan...

[@Professional_Lube_Job]

Texas please legalize. Who else agrees?

[@KushIsKing-gc9py]

We !!

[@JediMoss]

Hell no! I’d rather have my firearms.

[@Professional_Lube_Job]

@JediMoss I bet yu would kitty

[@JustaComment93]

Yes

[@JustaComment93]

Legalize weed in Texas

[@davidhynes]

10% for the Big Guy.

[@davidearhart3832]

Might want to do a background check on the person using chopsticks to grab that bud from the jar.

[@ghostwalk2446]

Why, you think he was going to eat it?

[@abelincoln3261]

So hundreds of grow locations and they show us one ..call it a dream home it's a double wide trailer.

[@shawnmichael6190]

This is why my driveway is a half a mile long deep in the woods!!

[@daxomegajr2620]

I’m in central California we grow the best out here our club has some of the best of the best and prices are pretty low.

[@greenmandan]

Same ,,I'm in south KY I'm the only one on my Rd with cameras at the end of my driveway lol

[@Doobie603]

​@@daxomegajr2620Yeah but At the end of the day you are still in California

[@Doobie603]

​@@greenmandanHope you have a gate too with no trespassing signs. Cops can't open your gate without a warrant that way. Every ex cop I have met has a gate.

[@gobigorange]

Legalize it already

[@SillyBillies1]

Arrest, charge and deport

[@dorindasmail4340]

you get it , none of the other comments understand the impact to the legal grows

[@johndell5088]

@@dorindasmail4340nobody paying 2x the prices plus taxes for some legal bud bro

[@mikemiller659]

There are NO friend of the US

[@br.m]

@@dorindasmail4340 Aww cheer up

[@Jonathon10]

Is this really happening or is this just a play to get everyone to buy weed from dispensaries that are taxed?

[@Dashone184]

The only reason their mad is cause they can't get a piece of the pie $$

[@republicofcasuals]

? If that was the case it would be legalized everywhere.... You have to understand that in the higher up's, there are still tons of people who hate stoners and will do whatever they can to stand in the way

[@Dashone184]

@@republicofcasuals I was referring to the "Chinese Criminal Network"

[@republicofcasuals]

@@Dashone184 Ah ok, my comment was just a broad statement covering everywhere including places where it's still illegal. So, with that said, you're 100% right for states that are legal 😁

[@banginpeakhour]

Hey CBS, it's called cannabis.

[@bluelava4282]

Sing, yang and Yong Replacing Cheech and Chong 🌱

[@acuraledgend9648]

Dont forget lee 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@bluelava4282]

@@acuraledgend9648 Oh also Lee, Chen, Chuy, Choo, Noodles and Soy

[@acuraledgend9648]

@@bluelava4282 and you know this mann (chris tucker voice)

[@bluelava4282]

@@acuraledgend9648 Shi

[@republicofcasuals]

MEXICAN AMERICA 🤣

[@bhambhole]

Breaking news: people grew marijuana for the first time ever!

[@MrJonesy2121]

Total waste of our resources going after marijuana growers

[@bobriquardo5317]

Would you be okay with illegal distilleries too? Would you be okay with illegal restaurants? Illegal cosmetics? Products that go into our bodies should be regulated for our safety. My main concern with illegal cannabis is pesticides and mold which are avoidable in a legal market where you can read safety labs.

[@yerxa420ca]

@@bobriquardo5317 yes it's called freedom dude lol free market

[@deletedaccount175]

@@bobriquardo5317 would we be okay with people making their own choices in somewhere titled across the world as 'the land of the free'? Do you think before you speak or is that too hard for you? If people want to buy those products, let them. They have to pay the hospital bill, not you. Get a grip.

[@DaKrawnik]

You said that AFTER watching the video? Make critical thinking great again!

[@kenofken9458]

@@bobriquardo5317 The way to "go after" such things is to make the legal products cost competitive. Illegal products will always be able to under cut price to some degree, but if taxes and regulations keep the price of the legal product reasonable, most people will go with that. That's why you don't see a real burgeoning industry for bootleg alcohol in this country. You can go buy a bottle of something like Jack Daniels for $25 a bottle, and if you live almost anywhere populated, you can get one within maybe 10 minutes of your house. Almost nobody makes a living selling moonshine. It exists as a novelty product, and probably 99% of what people think is moonshine is in fact legal and regulated alcohol sold in mason jars as a gimmick.

[@dan49781]

Make is federally legal. Smaller margins when your not able to grow in a legal state and traffic to a non legal.

[@desmeisme]

I only get my stuff legally from a dispensary. It may be more expensive but I’ll pay that extra for the safety of it

[@turkeysandwiche8552]

You don’t really believe what you’re saying do you?

[@malvo5190]

sadly dispensaries sometimes sell moldy weed and when you unknowingly buy it you can’t do anything about it as they claim no responsibility

[@bobriquardo5317]

Amen. I get mycology reports, pesticide reports, and heavy metal reports with my cannabis. I'll never buy black market again. Why take the risk? All the labs I get reports from are state certified and follow globally recognized ISO 9001 testing procedures.

[@turkeysandwiche8552]

@@bobriquardo5317 iso 9001 great German concept ! Not

[@DaKrawnik]

We bought weed off the streets for decades...

[@DgurlSunshine]

HOW MUCH ENERGY DOES A CRYPTO-MINER USE? WEED GROW FROM THE GROUND.

[@Gr8Incarnate]

How much energy does Netflix use?

[@user-bg3dr1bt3d]

Guess money does grow on trees

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

*shrubs

[@xjww8623]

Yall should check out the Chinese grow ops in Oklahoma. Its puts Maine to shame.

[@Floydf0st3r]

Wouldn't be a problem if it was legal

[@b469b]

I only buy legal weed(i live in new england) when i am smoking weed which is not right now but i do not trust underground grow techniques.

[@farmboysri9948]

@@b469bdispos are the worst with remediated weed ! Oh the weed got mold ok we can fix that !!! People are uneducated on mmj

[@themaineiac207]

It would because there’s a legal process to sell it. I have a medical card because the quality of weed I buy is better due to the testing and regulations. For example. Recreational weed can pass to sell with PM (Powdery Mildew) where the medical can’t. These dudes will also use pesticides and chemicals that give you cancer to grow there weed, then funnel it back to the gang there connected with to either buy guns here in Maine to supply the gang. And or, then sell other drugs here.

[@KPVFarmer]

If it’s legalized nationally and made less cumbersome for an average person to grown a handful of their own plants, the demand on the black market goes down. Gotta follow the money and get the leaders, facilitators, and financiers of the criminal networks. We must also better educate our youth and populace on how dangerous and scary fentanyl, meth, heroin etc are. WHO in their right mind would choose to even try something that has a 99% chance on ruining their life and those around them?

[@mikejohnston7111]

STOP THE ASAIN CRIME!

[@jungyi27]

China numba one

[@OccultVolcano]

Maine is more crooked than the great wall

[@daytoncostlow2578]

Former cop here. Legalize it. Regulate it to within reason. Use the taxes to fix infrastructure. This all goes away.

[@baymaster20]

Ahahahahah the Chinese been growing weed ya late af cheers from california💯😂

[@jan_darysh]

outdated. Why did they make it illegal? Why is alcohol legal? Why are guns and knives legal?

[@republicofcasuals]

Weed is a younger person thing like 20's to 50's, politicians are usually over 50 and don't smoke, but everyone drinks and thinks they're Rambo 🤣

[@jeffrey7160]

Someone snitch?

[@kingkong81icloud]

They should top them earlier, I am a pro grower , air pots and trays , HPS lights , carbon filter , ozone generator knocked into chimney stack

[@posthocprior]

Not mentioned: state taxes is what makes legally sold marijuana expensive. Further, because, at the federal level, it's illegal, you can't sell marijuana you grow in one state to another. This, also, implicitly raises the price of legally grown marijuana. In short, Chinese organized crime is taking advantage of a broken, bureaucratic system of legally grown and sold marijuana. The best way, then, to combat Chinese. organized crime is to lower the cost of legally sold marijuana.

[@kenofken9458]

Prohibition is essentially a royal charter for organized crime. Illegal drug markets cannot exist where the product is available legally and is taxed and regulated reasonably. You don't see any stories about Chinese crime groups running bootleg whiskey. There's no margin in it.

[@markstevens1729]

Because we all know how much certain states enjoy the Feds telling them what’s “legal.”

[@PKMNmasterWiley]

so what's the problem only thing I see the state didn't get any tax dollars on it and are mad about the electric bill.

[@ramseyebryant]

Wow Steve from Kms really doin the hard work that’s needed lol

[@CoachSteve345]

Some people told me this isn't even true...😮

[@Doobie603]

My state (New Hampshire) is helping cause this by being an island of weed prohibition in a sea of legalization. They wouldn't have anyone to sell it to if we just legalized it nationwide.

[@glennfernandez8978]

Wtf!! Is it just me or did they just tell everybody where the houses that are being investigated basically located before they do the raids.

[@imchris5000]

change the scheduling and this operations will collapse over night by letting weed legally travel across state lines

[@re8746]

Why pay for it when you can grow it yourself. Buddy of mine in central Texas grows high end, about 15-20 lbs yearly.

[@CAPS0L]

It's simple....Take out the black market by lowering legal weed prices

[@humbertojimenez3475]

Prohibition creates criminal gangs

[@sallyvella7012]

Electric Companies would have all the records of increased energy being placed at one property. In Illinois, LEO uses utilities to investigate illegal grows.

[@dalepotter6918]

So far they busted around 30 or 40 ,Illegal Chinese grows. It's pissing off us legal growers, up here in Maine

[@PHATDOGG]

It all started with Panda Express 🐼

[@socaismehname1972]

If it’s cheaper, I’m still buying

[@heybudstfunow]

:45 "chief keef" loool

[@MohamedIlias-iy5hk]

The question is why do Americans need to use this drugs…

[@D10D10]

You'd think they would grow in more weed-friendly states for lesser consequence

[@ohyababyohyea]

Uncle Joey said this on jre over 2 months ago 😂😂😂

[@michaelanthony5509]

The growers said "It's broccery"

[@user-bg3dr1bt3d]

Pineapple Express daaaamn👀

[@Benelli3131..]

I have pineapple express

[@sheldonhchambliss1385]

Weed isn't what it used to be that smell is new and it stinks

[@werewolfking2249]

I would much rather go to the dispensary than buying it from the streets.

[@TylerWKreedVillian]

BRUH WHY ARE YALL STILL STUCK ON WEED WHEN WE HAVE MISSING CHILDRE

[@latenightwizard6892]

I was wondering why the weed got really good 😅😅. Probably gonna tax water for being wet too

[@republicofcasuals]

But is water itself wet or just a liquid until it hit's a surface and becomes wet...? Is paint wet when it's in a paint tin, or is it just paint until you paint something like a park bench and the sign says "WET PAINT" WOAH! I need to stop smoking weed man 😊

[@martinwhalley3286]

Yes, because taxing and overly enforced areas inhibit the legal grows.

[@user-re9gq6vl4f]

I am a 100 % disabled veteran. It is medicinal and recommended by my doctors. I have no choice but to buy it on the street and risk, jail...tainted weed. It is illegal in my state and I spend my disability check buying it to stay out of pain. Thank you for your service 😢

[@aracnid007]

If everyone could grow their own, we wouldn't have this problem...

[@Realhighlife]

Please do not smoke Chinese made weed in a grow house that has deadly chemicals

[@WolfsburgSlim]

I wish they looked at Wall Street with the same vigorous energy

[@coralkitty]

My grandma used to live in this town, and I recognise that house lol

[@carlosrodriguez-xt1ug]

Wait there still using HPS lights lol?

[@sheldonhchambliss1385]

Didn't they make k2?

[@nevadanate4957]

Well yeah rural places probably have limited dispensaries too. Make it more legal and accessible and this stuff goes away.

[@bobriquardo5317]

they don't usually sell in the towns they grow in with these types of operations. It brings in heat. Also its LITERALLY legal in Maine and very accessible.

[@nevadanate4957]

@@bobriquardo5317 well then it must be sent to illegal states. Federal legalization baby

[@user-jn9gv9ve6e]

we let anybody in the country so why is this a surprise.

[@user-hr1rh4nl6k]

yipes😱🥺🥺 their workers coming over the border

[@brianforrest3377]

It should be legal in our whole country where all the states can prosper off the tax dollars

[@abelincoln3261]

No makes no faces no actual info on the growers... what's really going on here. How much property was seized.... Where are the owners why no arrest...

[@robertcooper4434]

Legal weed took all the fun out of it

[@martinwhalley3286]

Cracking up more than cracking down

[@spongebob6664]

This is called eminent domain

[@user-gl9jc2xu3z]

The Chinese government needs to legalize cannabis. Problem solved.

[@cheecheemen]

Monitor the light company , if all the sudden there's a extremely high power consumption more than any others then its time to go take a look. come on.

[@abelincoln3261]

You can't steal utilities with smart Meters....

[@traviscoates6878]

Lol his name is "Ray Donovan"

[@charles17508]

The leagle pot stores need to go and bring back mmj.

[@The_Funguseater]

"Amazing" really? It's an outdated 90's growshow. Dude must never bust the good setups.

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

Stay classy, humanity.

[@blinkymonroe496]

😂😂 maybe of the United States government would just legalize it!!

[@parttime9070]

Make it legal and tax it.. There are lots of boutique wine bottlers , should be the same with the weed..

[@westmassdave7354]

Wow, Chinese weed. Where’s that going to get sold?

[@jamessnee7171]

Smoke Chinese weed and an hour later you are straight again. (joke) They never said who is going to buy that stuff.

[@westmassdave7354]

@@jamessnee7171 $ the cops will probably $ell it

[@kingarthur1776]

Close the Fn border!!!...FJB

[@libbytown]

Maines Governor janet Mills own brother peter is the one who set up the real estate system so it was easy for the Triads to navigate.

[@yahshua4928]

long as it’s not laced

[@babupasha3491]

Competitions marijuana grooves

[@nonamegonzalez5711]

lol wait til they find out where kush comes from 😂😂😂

[@DaKrawnik]

Who cares? lol Kush is one of hundreds of strains....

[@TreeAHPozo]

I used to love that show.... scare tactics

[@andrewroman1337]

Oh no more weed the horror

[@ABoredTroll]

They got paid 1k a month to run an illegal weed farm. Lol 😅😂😂

[@josephcollins3763]

Thats small time.

[@kevinjenner9502]

Man who stand on toilet seat high on pot.

[@SteveninTune]

Free Melania ❤

[@hafizsenadbrick]

Apparently everything has to be made in China, including cannabis as well. 😅

[@oldunemployeddude6160]

I can get an oz of weed legally tax included with a high THC cheaper than the 90s in Massachusetts. Rhode Island doesn’t charge the tax if you’re a veteran.

[@baymaster20]

California has better weed

[@oldunemployeddude6160]

@@baymaster20 indica 37 percent. You’re weed has that virus

[@ronhomolka1796]

Grow your own

[@Cantafford2care]

That's why I grow my own. I'm not smoking WUHAN WEED

[@TheCommunicationCoach]

I want a Coca plant!! Gimme gimme gimme!!

[@MagaNews911]

Grew for years, now it's cheaper than ever. 1 OZ' for a hundred, hell it was 80, 40 years ago.

[@lestersloan2758]

I wonder what chinese weed will do to my eyes? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@lindalauer1434]

It sounds like the making of Marijuana being legal is basically fueling the fight between dealers from whatever families up to the white house & the CIA. This isn't about the rights of the people so as to benefit from it. What ethnicities are this guy speaking? Does this guys families or himself or his immediate family have ties to any growers that would make him partial to the outcomes?

[@beetoven8193]

All those taxes going to waste. When are they going to legalize it?

[@bobriquardo5317]

It's already legal in Maine

[@optimalprimidius7295]

Perhaps where you are from. Legal here. Needs federal legalization though.

[@republicofcasuals]

@@GothamsFinest That's why they have to allow at least 2 plants per person as you're right, not everyone can afford it, but also mass legalization would drive the price way down through competition