A Chinese national was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the bust of a massive marijuana operation in rural south Georgia last week.
Georgia law enforcement arrested four Chinese nationals over a marijuana grow in Pierce County estimated to be valued at $22.5 million. Pierce County Sheriff Ramsey Bennett said that three of the Chinese nationals suspected of operating the grow appeared to be in the United States legally while the other appeared to be here illegally.
On Tuesday, the bust was announced by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which aided Pierce County law enforcement in the investigation. The authorities initially believed that the building where the marijuana was being grown was being used to illegally process food.
The sheriff’s department charged Zhu Sheng Bing, Jinpeng Ma, Chenhui Shu, and Wei Sheng Deng with felony possession of marijuana and felony marijuana manufacturing. They are also expected to be hit with trafficking charges and were all denied bond. Deng was the only one detained by ICE.
Police raided the facility after a four-week investigation and found over 11,000 marijuana plants at all stages of growth. Bennett estimated that the plant had been operational since 2022 and said that people at the organization had ties to Staten Island and Houston. It was the largest marijuana bust in county history.
Video posted by the Agricultural Department showed officers walking through the building examining the grow operation.
