Four Chinese nationals were arrested in Georgia on felony marijuana charges after law enforcement discovered over $22 million worth of cannabis being grown illegally at a rural facility.
Acting on a tip about possible illegal food manufacturing, authorities executed a search warrant and found more than 11,000 marijuana plants.
One suspect was detained by ICE while the others were in the US legally.
Tyler Harper, Georgia’s Agriculture Commissioner, said, “The agriculture industry is not immune to criminal activity.”
“I say all the time, just like water takes the easiest path, so does criminal activity from time to time,” he continued.
Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett said, “We do know people within the organization that we’re familiar with here in the county, they have ties with people from Staten Island (New York) to the Houston metropolitan area.”
He added, “This wasn’t your average south Georgia countrymen with a few plants in the backyard or a few plants in the closet. It far exceeds that.”
The operation had been running since 2022 and was linked to criminal networks in other states.
The agriculture commissioner emphasized that criminal activity can affect any industry and praised law enforcement for uncovering the large-scale illegal growing operation.
