Top House Republicans are requesting a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Agency on the spread of illegal Chinese-backed marijuana farms across the United States.
The letter from House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, Rep. August Pfluger, and Rep. Clay Higgins expresses concern about the proliferation of these farms and their links to transnational criminal organizations.
The Republicans are asking for a briefing schedule with the agencies by January 25 and want information about the agencies’ actions to monitor, investigate, and dismantle these illegal farms, as well as their links to criminal organizations and foreign entities. (Trending: Trump Defies Court And Delivers Closing Argument At Civil Fraud Trial)
There have been major drug busts in New Mexico and Maine, and a suspected Chinese national was arrested in Tennessee for operating a large marijuana growing operation.
“The Committee on Homeland Security (Committee) is growing increasingly alarmed by the number of illicit Chinese-operated marijuana farms that have been seized by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies across the United States. Many of these illicit grow operations work in conjunction with transnational criminal organizations,” the letter read.
“Illicit Chinese-operated marijuana farms have been found across the country and pose significant risks to our nation’s security. First, illicit marijuana farms provide unregulated access for consumers to Schedule 1 substances and help provide additional revenue sources to transnational criminal organizations.”
“Many of these operations have also been found to have labor conditions that are emblematic of human trafficking and forced labor practices. In addition, Chinese investors have financed some of these illegal operations, and these investments include cash payment for large swaths of land to conduct these operations,” the letter added.
House Republicans have been investigating China’s efforts to influence the U.S., including the operation of a Chinese police station in New York City.
“This briefing should include, but not be limited to, information about the actions your agencies are conducting to monitor, investigate, and dismantle illicit Chinese-operated marijuana farms, as well as information about the links these illegal farms have to transnational criminal organizations and foreign entities,” the Republicans wrote.
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