Police arrested two Massachusetts men during a Tuesday morning raid of a suspected illegal marijuana grow house.
Wenfeng Chen, 51, of Malden, Massachusetts, and Xinwen Zhang, 71, of Boston have been charged with cultivation of marijuana and unlawful drug trafficking, according to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.
Police raided the South Road residence about 9 a.m. During that raid, officers seized 1,405 plants, approximately 100 pounds of processed marijuana, a 9 mm pistol, ammunition, $1,600 in suspected drug proceeds, a 2017 Toyota Sienna van and other drug material, the sheriff’s office said.
It was the second time police raided the same property. In 2024, officers seized more than 1,200 plants and about 25 pounds of processed marijuana from the South Road residence, which has been nearly completely converted for the purposes of marijuana cultivation, according to the sheriff’s office.
No arrests were made at the time.
Bail was set at $10,000 for both Chen and Zhang. They have been scheduled to appear in Somerset County Unified Criminal Court on these charges on July 9. More charges are possible as the investigation proceeds.
Since the beginning of 2024, police have been active in busting these large operations, which have been found all over rural Maine, from Brownville, Guilford, Milo and Sangerville in Piscataquis County, to Corinna, Eddington, Holden and Passadumkeag in Penobscot County, to Turner in Androscoggin County, to Anson, Canaan, Cornville, Harmony, Madison, Mercer, Norridgewock, Ripley, Skowhegan, Solon and St. Albans in Somerset County, to Jay in Franklin County, to Belgrade, China, Chelsea, Farmingdale and Manchester in Kennebec County, to Jefferson and Whitefield in Lincoln County, to Mexico in Oxford County, to Belmont and Freedom in Waldo County, to Parsonsfield in York County.
The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office alone has executed 24 search warrants on properties suspected of illegal marijuana cultivation. Those raids have led to the arrest of 15 people and the seizure of approximately 30,000 plants, about 500 pounds of processed marijuana, around $51,000 in cash and six vehicles.
These operations received greater scrutiny after the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office found an illegal marijuana grow house in Carmel, where police seized 3,400 plants and 111 pounds of processed marijuana in late June 2023. As the year dragged on, police uncovered other large illegal marijuana operations in Dexter, Wilton, Machias and other communities.
A leaked federal government memo, first obtained by the conservative Daily Caller and published last August, estimated that Maine had as many as 270 large-scale illegal marijuana grows connected to organized crime groups in China. The memo’s authors noted that the money may be used to further crime in the U.S. or be sent back to China. These operations generate an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue.
Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency said it was investigating criminal syndicates running illegal grows in at least 20 states.
It’s unclear whether the Harmony operation is connected to other illegal marijuana grows in Maine or to the crime network described in the federal memo.
No additional information was immediately available.
