Central Maine.com reports
Laborers living out of suitcases, $10,000 electricity bills and elaborate automatic growing systems are among what officials found inside several of the residences, according to recently filed federal documents.
New details are emerging about the inner workings of illegal marijuana growing operations in rural Maine as federal prosecutors move to seize some of the properties they have raided in recent months.
Laborers living out of suitcases, $10,000 electricity bills and elaborate automatic growing systems are among what authorities found inside several of the residences converted into clandestine cultivation facilities.
More than two dozen such properties have been raided by state, local and federal authorities this year, though officials have speculated there could be several hundred illegal marijuana growing operations statewide. The facilities might be connected to organized, transnational crime groups with ties to China, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
As investigations continue into the operations, federal officials moved last week to seize four properties in China, Corinna, Cornville and Machias that housed what officials said were illegal cannabis growing operations.
On March 13, the Maine State Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided what they said was an illegal growing operation at 590 Hanson Road in China.
The property was purchased by Xiao Liao for $260,000 on May 11, 2021.
Though Liao took out a $156,000 mortgage to buy the property in China, federal officials allege she did not pay for it herself. Cash deposits between $2,000 and $3,000 were sporadically deposited into Liao’s account by a third party to cover loan payments, according to court documents filed by Darcie N. McElwee, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maine.
Records show Central Maine Power Co. granted Liao an easement in August 2021 that allowed her to modify electrical equipment at 590 Hanson Road.
The residence’s power usage spiked shortly afterward, at one point consuming more than 11,000% more electricity in a month than the average Maine house uses in a year.
The house used only 76 kilowatt-hours in December 2021, shortly after Liao had bought the property. Within a few months, in March 2022, the house’s power usage had spiked to 20,382 kilowatt-hours, with a bill of $4,027.79.
A kilowatt-hour is a standard unit of energy measurement representing the amount of energy consumed over the duration of one hour. The average Maine household uses about 550 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, according to the Maine Governor’s Energy Office.
In August 2023, 590 Hanson Road consumed 61,619 kilowatt-hours of electricity, at a cost of $12,341.50.
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Court documents provide deeper look inside Maine’s clandestine cannabis grows
