Top House lawmakers received a classified briefing on Thursday from the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Agency on the proliferation of illegal Chinese-backed marijuana farms across the United States.
Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), who heads up the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, and Rep. Clay Higgins, who leads the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, alongside other committee members, received the briefing from the DHS, DEA, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), a committee spokesman told The Daily Wire.
According to the spokesman, the briefing focused on “the recent trend in illicit marijuana grow operations within the homeland by People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationals,” as well as how federal “entities are working to combat the issue.”
In the last several years, Chinese-backed marijuana operations have cropped up across the United States, including major drug busts in New Mexico and Maine. In Maine alone, Border Patrol has reportedly identified at least 270 illegal marijuana grow operations throughout the state that are worth billions of dollars.
In November, a suspected Chinese national was arrested in rural Tennessee for allegedly operating a large marijuana growing operation out of an old church. A Daily Wire request for the police report on the arrest was denied due to an ongoing investigation into the operation.
“The Committee continues to conduct oversight of the federal government’s response to the worrying trend of illicit Chinese-operated marijuana farms,” the spokesman added. “Many of these operations work in conjunction with transnational criminal organizations, engage in human trafficking and force labor practices, and pose serious threats to public safety. The Committee is committed to combating the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations and countering the malign influence of the PRC on U.S. soil.”
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The briefing comes after House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN), Pfluger, and Higgins requested a briefing from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the DEA Administrator Anne Milgram in a letter first reported on by The Daily Wire.
“Illicit Chinese-operated marijuana farms have been found across the country and pose significant risks to our nation’s security,” the lawmakers wrote. “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.”