Three witnesses delivered testimony before Congress this week, warning that Chinese nationals are dominating the illicit marijuana trade in the US, with vast criminal networks tied to execution-style killings, sex trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, and fentanyl distribution. In Oklahoma alone, Chinese organized crime groups have turned black-market marijuana into a $153 billion industry. All three witnesses described the situation as a national security threat influenced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Not only are these networks scattered across the country, nearly in plain sight, but some locations appear to double as facilities for espionage.
Chinese Shell Games
The Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability held a hearing titled “Invasion of the Homeland: How China is Using Illegal Marijuana to Build a Criminal Network Across America.” First to give a statement was Donnie Anderson, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. He prefaced his testimony by saying the information he presented was “only a fraction of the broader threat we face.” He went on to say Oklahoma’s loose marijuana laws have “led to a staggering oversupply,” which has “inadvertently opened the door to international organized crime.”
“[T]he impact of black-market marijuana in Oklahoma is unlike anything I have encountered in my career,” said Anderson. These Chinese-operated grow sites hide behind fraudulent licenses and “straw ownership.” Americans are paid large sums to purchase grow sites in their names and to keep quiet. Anderson discovered an instance where one Oklahoma resident owned roughly 300 farms. Chinese nationalists manage these through shell companies facilitated by consulting firms, real estate agents, and attorneys.
“And this isn’t just an Oklahoma problem,” said Anderson, “it’s global. Chinese nationals are doing similar things in Latin America and the Caribbean, where they are building infrastructure, even roads, as part of larger investments. There’s always a reason behind it, and it connects back here to the United States. At its core, this is about national security, not just Oklahoma.”
When a Georgia legislator asked Anderson why Americans remain unaware of this problem, Anderson emphasized the scale and sophistication of these criminal operations. “When I say sophisticated, I mean at a level that law enforcement across the nation has never seen before — that complex, that layered. They hide themselves under many layers of LLCs and ownership structures.”
Beware of Espionage
Philip Larkin, a senior legal research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, was the second witness. He opened by stressing that these “Chinese organized crime elements are working with the tacit agreement of the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] and CCP.” Larkin advocated against medical and recreational marijuana laws, claiming they have not decreased the black-market for cannabis as so many reform advocates had expected. Not to mention, the states with loose cannabis laws are the ones most targeted. He urged the government to build a legal case and said the US conspiracy law could help to prosecute the criminal networks.
In one exchange, a legislator asked Larkin about the significance of “land acquisition to the broader strategy of Chinese criminal groups operating in America?”
“First,” said Larkin, “it gives them property to grow and process illicit drugs, which can then serve as distribution hubs. But beyond that, certain sites — especially indoor grows — could also be leveraged for espionage. They could be positioned to monitor nearby American communities, military bases, or other sensitive facilities. That makes land acquisition not just a criminal concern, but a serious national security threat.”
He's not kidding. One grow site in Oklahoma sits across from McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, which manufactures the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) bomb and houses “close to one-third of the Department of Defense's munitions stockpile,” according to Anderson’s testimony. It’s apparently under investigation. This isn’t a unique situation. Not long ago, the Chinese government tried to lease buildings near Luke Air Force base.
A Sleeping Giant
Third to testify was Chris Urben, a retired DEA agent. He detailed a special operations division he led during his last five years at the agency. Its primary focus was Project Sleeping Giant, which aimed to “understand, identify, and target” Chinese transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating in the US.
He warned that officials need to “recognize that activities involving Chinese TCO-linked marijuana grow and distribution operations are not ‘just weed cases.’” They help fuel Chinese criminal networks and crime-linked activities, such as human trafficking and fentanyl distribution. He argued that these cases should be treated as “money-laundering conspiracies tied directly into the global fentanyl and trafficking economy,” that way they could be prosecuted using RICO, a federal law enacted in 1970 that allows prosecutors to target entire criminal organizations.
These grow sites stretch from California to Maine, often in suburban communities, tribal lands, and national parks. Investigations and arrests have been ongoing for some time. In July 2025, the Justice Department arrested six Chinese nationals connected to grow houses in Massachusetts and Maine, which generated millions of dollars for Chinese organized crime. The investigation was part of a multi-year operation to stop illegal Chinese marijuana grow houses.
Each witness was given an extra three minutes to speak at the end of the hearing. Larkin heavily recommended educating the public on the prevalence of these criminal networks. Urben and Anderson suggested the government should assemble an inter-agency task force whose sole purpose would be to unravel and shut down the organizations responsible, thwart the growing Chinese threat to the US while holding the CCP accountable.
Will the Trump administration heed their warning? Perhaps a better question might be, with so many resources already tied up in border patrol, deportations, and pursuing drug cartels, does the government even have the manpower to undertake such a vast and complex operation?
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