Overview

• Federal prosecutors indicted seven Chinese nationals on charges including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, money laundering and bringing aliens into the United States.
• Six defendants were arrested Tuesday in coordinated raids across Massachusetts while one remains at large following the indictment.
• Charging documents allege the network concealed grow operations inside suburban single-family homes and produced kilogram-sized quantities of marijuana since January 2020.
• Prosecutors contend the ring smuggled Chinese nationals into the U.S., withheld their passports until smuggling debts were repaid and forced them to labor at the grow sites.
• The case falls under Operation Take Back America, and authorities have launched asset forfeiture proceedings against luxury properties, vehicles and jewelry bought with illicit proceeds.