Key Takeaways
- New opioid 70H, or "gas station heroin," is potent and unregulated, creating public health risks.
- Chinese transnational criminal organizations operate hundreds of illicit cannabis grows across Maine and other states.
- These operations involve human trafficking, money laundering, and illegal property acquisition near U.S. military sites.
- Legal loopholes in cannabis and hemp laws are exploited by criminal groups for arbitrage and illegal distribution.
- Law enforcement faces challenges in addressing these operations, which some sources link to the Chinese Communist Party.
- Illicit cannabis is often contaminated with banned pesticides, posing health risks to consumers.
- Lack of federal regulatory framework enables widespread, low-risk, high-cash-flow illicit drug trade.
- Some politicians and businesses are implicated in or benefit from the unregulated cannabis and synthetic drug markets.
Deep Dive
- 70H, a potent, legal opioid, originates from a tree in Southeast Asia and undergoes complex chemical synthesis.
- It is marketed with flavors and 15-milligram dosages, with its lab testing authenticity questioned.
- Senator Markwayne Mullin estimates the 70H industry to be worth $9 billion.
- As of September 2025, the DEA is in the process of scheduling the drug.
- An investigation, spurred by an August 2022 leaked DHS memo, identified over 270 illicit Chinese marijuana grows in Maine.
- Properties are acquired by individuals linked to Chinese transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), with neighbors observing suspicious activity and frequent deliveries.
- Many individuals working at these sites are victims of human trafficking, smuggled from China, with passports confiscated, forced into labor.
- These operations are illegal despite Maine's adult-use recreational marijuana legalization, exceeding strict plant limits and tracking regulations.
- These operations generate hundreds of billions of dollars, reinvested into real estate and funding illicit activities, including property acquisition near U.S. military bases.
- Cannabis produced at these illicit Chinese grows often contains 13 to 14 banned pesticides, contaminating products and posing health risks.
- The widespread availability of cheap, poisoned marijuana is suggested to align with the Chinese Communist Party's goal of weakening the U.S. population.
- Extracted THC is used to create vape cartridges and gummies, easily distributed nationwide, raising concerns about their potential as vectors for chemical or biological agents.
- Inconsistent regulation between hemp-derived and cannabis-derived THC delta-9 creates arbitrage opportunities for illicit operators.
- Chinese criminal organizations exploit these loopholes, growing products in states with relaxed regulations and selling them in prohibition states through unregulated channels for clean money transactions.
- Organizations are involved in both hemp and cannabis operations, using methods like 'blowing out' hemp biomass to extract oils that are converted into THC chemically identical to illicit cannabis.
- Investigations uncovered sophisticated operations, including a three-story barn with a $15,000 marijuana processing machine and a property in Greenbush, Maine, with a shortwave radio tower.
- A boiler repair technician reported seeing numerous machines presumed to be for Bitcoin mining at sites, despite Maine's high electricity costs.
- Law enforcement views illicit cannabis operations as traditional drug crimes, lacking training to combat transnational criminal organizations or recognize connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
- Electronic equipment at these sites is often overlooked by law enforcement during raids, which typically focus on dismantling illegal marijuana grows.
- Over 75 properties were acquired using mortgages from a single company, with loan officers being Chinese and Taiwanese nationals; properties were misrepresented as primary residences for illegal grows, constituting bank fraud.
- Four realtors, all born and educated in China, acted as agents for over 300 such properties; some have educational backgrounds tied to institutions with alleged links to Chinese intelligence.
- Law enforcement's approach of raiding individual grow sites and arresting low-level workers is ineffective, as workers are often human trafficking victims with limited knowledge of their superiors.
- An indictment in Massachusetts found a suspect in illegal Chinese marijuana operations living in a $1.5 million home with $250,000 cash and passports of trafficking victims.
- Governor Janet Mills' administration faces questions regarding inaction on Chinese cartel activity in Maine, despite readily identifiable marijuana sites.
- The governor's brother, Paul Mills, prepared tax documents for a property transfer for an illicit marijuana grow in Corinna, Maine, involving a Chinese national with an address in Guangdong province.
- This involvement suggests a potential conflict of interest or money laundering scheme, especially given the timing after property raids.
- The lack of a U.S. Attorney in Maine, potentially due to Senate 'blue slip' traditions and Senator Angus King's possible objections, hinders federal action.
- 70H, a potent synthetic opioid, is derived from the kratom plant through a complex chemical process; raw kratom has milder effects.
- It is significantly more potent than morphine, with varying potency based on formulation (up to 46 times stronger), and is readily available in convenience and grocery stores.
- There is little to no regulatory oversight or established testing protocols for 70H, and it is marketed under names like 'Opia' or 'Perk'.
- Narcan can be used to reverse a 70H overdose, similar to other opioids.
- Current testing methods are not sophisticated enough to reliably detect 70H or its metabolites in biological samples, making it difficult to track addiction and fatalities.
- The illicit market for 70H is estimated at $9 billion and is integrated with other substances.
- Concerns exist about 70H being combined with THC oil in vape products, potentially leading users to unknowingly consume an opioid.
- A 17-year-old reportedly became addicted to a vape pen purchased online, requiring Narcan, with suspicions the pen contained a combination of THC and 70H.
- The promotion of synthetic drugs like 70H and Kratom parallels the historical marketing of prescription opioids, with non-profit organizations and businesses allegedly downplaying risks.
- Sales representatives for companies like CBD American Shaman make claims about 70H products being all-natural, plant-based, and non-addictive, despite packaging indicating they may be addictive.
- Customers ordering CBD for conditions like arthritis might unknowingly receive and consume 70H offered as free samples.
- As fentanyl is cracked down upon, there are fears that users will shift to readily available alternatives like 70H, especially if they become cheaper and more accessible.
- Deaths related to 70H are likely not being tracked, as many small-town police departments are unaware of the substance.
- Politicians addressing 70H, like Matt Gates, may be influenced by lobbying interests, such as those of the Hemp Roundtable.
- While politicians advocate for hemp's industrial uses, many hemp products are smokable and contain synthetic cannabinoids like THCP, manufactured in places like Shanghai, China.
- The current regulatory and law enforcement systems are ill-equipped to handle the pace of scientific advancement in drug production, leaving society to grapple with these emerging challenges.
- Large-scale Chinese mafia operations in Oklahoma involve drug trafficking, human smuggling, and cannabis cultivation, with an estimated 3,000 of the state's 6,000 registered medicinal growers suspected of ties to organized crime.
- An old sardine cannery in Eastport, Maine, was converted into a front for human trafficking and marijuana cultivation by an individual named Jimmy Wong.
- An Oklahoma State University tablecloth found at the Eastport site suggests a broader criminal network connecting operations in Maine and Oklahoma, involved in trafficking people and exploiting laborers.
- These networks are deliberately co-locating facilities near sensitive U.S. infrastructure and military bases for surveillance, posing national security risks.