Overview

• The Justice Department indicted seven Chinese nationals on charges of marijuana trafficking, money laundering and alien smuggling, securing six arrests with one defendant still at large.
• Prosecutors allege the enterprise has operated interconnected grow houses in suburban Massachusetts and Maine since January 2020, including properties in Braintree, Melrose and Greenfield.
• Investigators say smuggled Chinese laborers were forced to work under passport withholding until they repaid smuggling debts.
• Authorities claim millions in drug proceeds were funneled into luxury homes, vehicles and jewelry to finance and expand the operation.
• October 2024 raids yielded over $270,000 in cash, 109 kilograms of marijuana, multiple passports hidden in a safe, a Porsche and a Rolex watch under the nationwide Operation Take Back America initiative that continues with asset seizures and the search for the remaining suspect.