Illegal marijuana grows linked to China are funding fentanyl that is 'killing our citizens,' says Somerset County sheriff

The Somerset County Sheriff's Office has taken a “proactive stance” in its investigations into illegal marijuana growing operations with alleged ties to China because the profits are believed to be intended to fund international fentanyl production, the chief said. sheriff this week.

“I believe the profits end up in China,” Sheriff Dale Lancaster told the county board of commissioners Wednesday. “These profits are used to purchase the chemicals to send to the cartel to make fentanyl. And fentanyl is killing our citizens.

Illegal marijuana growing operations that have been dismantled across the state in recent months are suspected of being linked to “transnational criminal organizations” with ties to China, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee said in May. for the district of Maine. However, McElwee did not mention the fentanyl connection or indicate what other crimes the organizations are suspected of committing. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that authorities say has led to overdoses and deaths in the United States in recent years.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, raised the theory that illegal grows are linked to the production and distribution of fentanyl during questioning this week of FBI Director Christopher Wray. Marijuana cultivation operations appear to be linked to “Chinese organized crime,” Wray said during a congressional hearing Wednesday. But, like McElwee, he did not specify the nature of these crimes.

Wray called marijuana grows in Maine an “attractive business proposition” for the groups behind them and agreed with Collins that “we're seeing it in rural communities.”

Law enforcement across Maine had shut down more than 40 such operations by early May, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Authorities believe they have identified about 100 illegal grow crops in Maine.

Most are in rural areas of Maine, including Franklin, Kennebec and Lincoln counties. Somerset County accounts for a large portion of the operations halted so far.

Between January and May, the Somerset County Sheriff's Office led the execution of search warrants at 18 suspected marijuana grow operations, according to the most recent information released by the Lancaster office. By the end of May, eleven people had been arrested in Somerset County in connection with the arrests.

“WHY ARE WE STUCK WITH THIS?” »

Lancaster's comments on the motivation for shutting down illegal grows came during questioning by county commissioners Wednesday about ongoing investigations.

Commissioner John Alsop, who represents Cornville and Skowhegan, said the illegal growing operations do not appear to be impacting Somerset County residents, aside from the odors and reported high energy use.

Other crimes, such as burglaries, have a more direct impact on county residents and should be priorities for the sheriff's office, Alsop said.

“It’s a shame that our law enforcement resources are being used so much to take them down,” Alsop said. “This seems like a fitting case for former tax agents who had a history of destroying smuggling operations. Why are we stuck with this?

Lancaster responded with his explanation of the alleged connection to the fentanyl trade. People involved in illegal grow operations are not selling drugs in Somerset County, he said.

In 2023, there were 29 suspected and confirmed deaths from drug overdoses in Somerset County, according to data released by the Maine Drug Data Hub, a collaboration between several state departments and the University of Maine. During the same period, there were 431 non-fatal overdoses with emergency medical response in the county.

“I think people get hung up on the word ‘marijuana,’” Lancaster said. “But marijuana is just a tool for making profits. This is what we are fighting against. Fentanyl killing our people is a shame.

Each illegal grow investigation costs the sheriff's office about $3,000 in manpower and resources, Lancaster told commissioners. But that figure is difficult to calculate because investigations typically involve cooperation between local, county, state and federal law enforcement and detectives are not asked to tally the exact number of hours spent on a particular case, a said the sheriff.

“We kind of did a rough estimate to come up with that number,” Lancaster said.

Regular and overtime wages in the sheriff's office's administrative, detective and patrol divisions were largely in line with budgeted numbers in March, according to Somerset County budget information released this spring.

THE ATTENTION OF THE FED

Despite the resources needed for investigations, most of the five county commissioners appeared to support the Somerset County Sheriff's Office's efforts to investigate illegal grow operations. Several said they hoped federal authorities would provide more help.

“Kudos to the sheriff and the people of your department for leading this project, because it brought the matter to the attention of the federal government,” Chairman Robert Sezak, who represents Fairfield and Norridgewock, said at the end of the conversation. “And I hope they do more.”

The FBI's Wray said in congressional testimony Tuesday that federal authorities are continuing their investigations.

“I’m very sympathetic to our state and local partners,” Wray said.

Even as federal authorities pledge to do more, local authorities continue to investigate illegal marijuana operations on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

On Thursday, Lancaster announced his office executed a search warrant at a residence on North Main Street in Solon, seizing 1,142 marijuana plants and more than 100 pounds of processed marijuana. No one was present and no arrests were made. The search, the result of a months-long investigation, was assisted by the Waterville Police Department, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy, the District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Also Thursday, the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office reported executing two separate search warrants the same morning, with the assistance of agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Authorities seized 1,168 marijuana plants from a former farm on Pond Road in Manchester and found evidence that a large quantity of marijuana had recently been harvested from a residence on Sheldon Street in Farmingdale. No one was found at the scene or arrested.

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