Raids on pot grow houses finding more Chinese nationals, mysterious financing
BY STUART LEAVENWORTH AND BRAD BRANAN
sleavenworth@mcclatchydc.com, bbranan@sacbee.com
OCTOBER 17, 2017 7:55 AM
SACRAMENTO Police are arresting large numbers of Chinese nationals in raids on illegal marijuana operations in California, Colorado and other states, raising questions about who is financing these grow houses and recruiting the immigrants to tend them.
In one recent indictment obtained by McClatchy, money from a southern China bank account was transferred to California to pay for down payments on homes that later become grow houses, suggesting that some investors in China are putting money into the illicit U.S. marijuana market.
“These are sophisticated operations,†said Thomas Yu, a longtime Asian gang investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “When we hear about Asian gangs, we think about young guys doing drive-by shootings. This isn’t like that. These are organized ad hoc enterprises, run by businessmen. They are in it for the profit.â€
http://www.modbee.com/news/article179260411.html
