Maine’s illegal cannabis grow houses are being sold

At least 31 suspected illegal marijuana grow houses have been relisted for sale since law enforcement first raided the operations in January this year, an analysis of Maine real estate listings shows. Nearly a dozen appear to have sold.

Illegal marijuana “grow houses” have become a pervasive issue in rural Maine, where Chinese transnational criminal organizations have purchased anywhere from 100 to 700 single-family homes, hollowed them out and converted them into industrial-scale black market marijuana farms.

The homes are often filled with carcinogenic fertilizers, black market fumigants and extensive black mold infestations. Conditions inside the homes have been described as “uninhabitable” and “abhorrent” by authorities present at the raids.

Now, many suspected sites are being seemingly refurbished and relisted on the market. They are all rural single-family properties outfitted with several heat pumps and high-voltage electrical wiring that have been purchased in the last four years by out-of-state residents of Chinese descent with no previous presence in Maine — mirroring properties where alleged illegal grow houses have been raided by police.

Real estate listings and deed transactions show an influx of such residences being listed for sale as law enforcement escalates their investigation into the sites.

The value of most of the properties has risen along with most Maine real estate since the grow houses began taking root in the state about four years ago, leaving growers one final opportunity to profit tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars after the operations have stopped cultivating marijuana.

Maine law requires real estate agents disclose “prior removal of hazardous materials or elements,” but does not specifically require a home’s history be shared with the buyer before it is sold, even if the home was involved in criminal activity.

A home at 24 Guptill Road in Belgrade was one of the first Maine grow houses raided by law enforcement in January and was among the first to be listed for sale about eight months later.

Several other illegal grows raided by law enforcement have reappeared on the market along with dozens of other suspected grow houses so far untouched by the authorities.

At least 10 grow houses across Maine appear to have been sold for between $150,000 and $600,000. It is unclear if the buyers were aware of the homes’ history.

Federal authorities have moved to seize six Maine properties they say housed illegal cannabis growing operations with “potential resale value based on their condition,” according to Andrew Lizotte, the assistant U.S. attorney who is leading the federal investigation into Maine’s illegal cannabis grow houses.

Lizotte and the U.S. Marshals Service, which oversees federal property seizures, said the government seizes houses on a case-by-case basis.

Prosecutors consider each grow house’s financing and “how the property was used in furtherance of the illegal marijuana operation,” Lizotte said, though the primary concern is often the remediation and renovations needed to address hazards inside the homes.

Federal prosecutors have declined to seize several houses raided with assistance from federal investigators, including some that are now on the market. Lizotte declined to comment on why those specific properties were not seized.

571 THURSTON HILL ROAD, MADISON

Federal and local authorities found nearly 600 illegal marijuana plants when they raided 571 Thurston Hill Road in March. The home was put back on the market about five months later before selling for $200,000 in early December.

The two-bed, one-bath home was purchased in April 2022 by Jiamin Liao of Flushing, New York, “for consideration paid,” according to the deed transaction, generally an indication of a cash sale.

Industrial-grade heating, lighting and ventilation systems were installed inside the home shortly after Liao purchased it to accommodate the growth of several hundred cannabis plants at a time, according to investigators.

Liao is a Chinese national with residences listed under her ownership in Maine, California and New York, law enforcement says.

Liao was arrested after Somerset sheriff’s deputies raided a Norridgewock property she owned that police say was used to process marijuana grown at the Thurston Hill home.

She was released later that evening after posting $10,000 bail. Federal authorities are in the process of seizing Liao’s Norridgewock property.

The Thurston Hill house was listed for sale by South China-based Realtor Xiaofang Clark, with Liao still listed as its owner, according to the Somerset County Registry of Deeds.

Reflective sheets that once insulated grow rooms have been replaced with drywall and new paint. Photos from online listings show new floors throughout the home and marble countertops in the kitchen.

Much of the cultivation was happening in the basement and garage, which had been insulated to accommodate the high temperatures and humidity needed to efficiently grow cannabis, according to DEA special agent Kristopher Sullivan.

“Inside the residence there were several rooms that were currently being utilized to grow marijuana,” Sullivan wrote in a May court filing. “The basement had several rooms where walls had been built and reflective material was hung to aid in the marijuana cultivation process, with one of the rooms currently being used to grow marijuana. The entire garage area was divided into three rooms, each being utilized to grow marijuana.”

Clark’s listings make note of the home’s “insulated two-car garage and insulated basement” but do not mention its previous use across about a half-dozen real estate websites.

She said she was not aware of any modifications made to the property, either to grow marijuana or to cover up the growing of marijuana.

“I don’t see any sign of this growing facility or anything like that. It’s just a very ordinary two-bedroom house,” Clark said. “When I entered the address on the internet, it came out that this house was involved in some activity like that so I did talk to the seller. The seller fully disclosed what was going on.”

The home’s sale was finalized Dec. 3 for about $200,000, according to the Somerset County Registry of Deeds. The buyer is aware of the home’s history, Clark said, which she disclosed before the sale.

Clark’s listings do not mention hazardous materials or elements removed from the property. Affidavits written after the raid largely only refer to the criminal activity at the home and do not specifically mention the conditions or hazards inside.

Clark says there was no black mold, chemical fertilizers or other hazardous materials at the home.

“Growing marijuana in your house, in the property disclosure, there’s no section specifically to say if you grow it or not, but this is being disclosed fully because as a Realtor we need to disclose everything we know about the property,” Clark said.

140 POINT ROAD, BELGRADE

An alleged illegal grow house was busted at 140 Point Road in January, one of the first such raids in Maine. The property was also one of the first relisted for sale when it hit the market in August.

A Massachusetts man was arrested and about 1,000 cannabis plants, fertilizers, potting soil and “complex growing systems” were found inside the home during the raid, Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said at a court hearing in January.

“The growing of marijuana at this residence had been going on for quite some time,” Mitchell said. “The facts put together suggest that this was a long-term, large-scale grow operation.”

The home was put back on the market about eight months after the raid by Lewiston-based real estate agent Yuli “Lily” Huang.

The Point Road home is owned by Siu Yin Huang of Uncasville, Connecticut, who purchased the property “for consideration paid” in 2021.

An affidavit written after the home was raided notes that “this is common for these illegal marijuana growing residences to be owned by someone who does not live on-site.”

The affidavit noted several heat pumps and industrial-grade electrical equipment at the home, common modifications inside illicit grow houses.

Like most other relisted grow houses, you likely wouldn’t be able to tell the home’s history from the listing photos, which show repainted walls, polished wooden floors and new carpets throughout the home — though reflective insulative paneling remains in the home’s garage.

Belgrade does not require building permits for renovation or electrical work nor does it mandate air or water quality testing at new real estate listings, according to the town’s code enforcement officer, Hans Rasmussen.

“I can’t speak to what was done or the quality of the work that has been done, electrical or otherwise,” he said in September of another relisted grow house. “It’s outside the scope of my responsibilities.”

Huang was also listed as the real estate agent for 24 Guptill Road in Belgrade, where an alleged illegal marijuana grow was raided in January before being relisted for nearly $400,000 nine months later.

That home has been taken off the market since a Morning Sentinel story in September on its listing but has not been sold, according to public property records.

Huang’s real estate profile notes that she is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Taiwanese. She has previously said she often works with out-of-state buyers who speak little English and are unfamiliar with Maine’s real estate market.

Ten other suspected grow houses appear on Huang’s real estate profile, as well as an East Millinocket warehouse “currently set up as a cannabis grow facility,” according to an online listing. Growing equipment still in the warehouse is included in the sale.

“Because I speak Chinese, they get a hold of me and say they want me to sell,” Huang said in September. “I didn’t know they were involved with the illegal growing of marijuana … I know that it’s very common in Maine, a lot of people grow the marijuana at home.”

Huang declined a request to speak about 140 Point Road and the other properties she has listed for sale.

667 WATERVILLE ROAD, SKOWHEGAN

While several confirmed grow houses have hit the market, they are outnumbered by suspected growing operations that have not been raided by law enforcement.

The three-story home, detached garage and large workspace at 667 Waterville Road in Skowhegan is on the market at nearly $300,000 with Yuli Huang also listed as its agent.

The property is owned by Yan Qiang Mei, of Missouri City, Texas, who purchased the property in 2022, also “for considerations paid,” according to the Somerset County Registry of Deeds.

It is a rural single-family home purchased by an out-of-state investor of Chinese descent in the last five years, with high-voltage power lines strung to all three buildings on the property. Large exhaust vents and several heat pumps are visible at each of the outbuildings, while their windows have been covered and boarded up.

Mei was granted an easement in 2022 by Central Maine Power Co., the home’s electric supplier, to modify and upgrade the power equipment at the home, public property records show.

Huang’s listing does not disclose the property’s previous use or condition. She declined to answer questions about the home’s history or previous tenants. Mei, the homeowner, could not be reached for comment.

Cheehaut Kang, Mei’s brother-in-law and business partner at the home, insisted in an interview that no marijuana was grown at the property.

Kang said the property had been modified to accommodate a “multimillion-dollar manufacturing business,” he started in the last four years with Mei, but that he could not share what he manufactured due to a nondisclosure agreement.

“We have actually spent more than $10,000 to have our electrical (consumption) increased for that particular operation, which we unfortunately fell through and we are not able to complete. A business partner is getting back out, so we are settled with this,” Kang said. “My brother is very sour on this investment, so therefore we are trying to sell it out.”

Kang said there was no illegal activity on the property, but that he plans to sell it to a “client” who will use the workshops to grow marijuana, as the property has all the necessary equipment already installed to accommodate a large-scale cannabis grow.

“Our client introduced some people who say they would like to cultivate, rent our property part of it to do a legal marijuana medical cultivation,” Kang said. “We are in the process of applying the license for them since we have ample electrical current needs.”

More than 120 suspected illegal grow houses have transitioned to the legal market in the last year by applying for a medical marijuana license with Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy, a Morning Sentinel investigation uncovered.

The OCP has issued an increasing number of new cannabis farms registered to rural Maine applicants of Chinese descent with addresses listed in Boston, New York City and their respective suburbs, mirroring many of those arrested at illegal growing operations so far.

Several licensed grow houses have been confirmed to be selling cannabis with potentially fatal levels of toxic pesticides to legal medical dispensaries.

Investigators in Somerset County have found that the owners of raided grow houses will file the paperwork to establish a medical marijuana grow at the site after the raid, according to Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster, whose office has raided more than 20 grow houses so far.

“What we’re seeing is that on a few of the homes that we have executed our search warrants on, that they then go to the Office of Cannabis (Policy) to try to obtain a license,” said Lancaster.

Unlike most other legal states, licensed individual caregivers in Maine can create businesses and sell cannabis to anyone with a medical card. About 80 suspected illicit growers have established such businesses statewide, according to OCP records.

Kang said his clients intended to establish such a business at 667 Waterville Road.

“We are a law-abiding citizen,” Kang said. “We are trying to help people do the right thing and that is what we are endeavoring to do.”

“WE WOULD NEVER KNOW”

While Maine law requires a number of disclosures around the presence of methamphetamine and other “hazardous materials or elements,” it does not require the disclosure of a cannabis farm, chemical fertilizers or mold.

Many of the small, rural towns the grow houses take root in do not have the resources or staffing to require stringent property inspections.

This leaves the possibility that illegal growers are applying surface-level fixes to serious hazards with no ability to detect them — a possibility acknowledged by Paul McKee, the outgoing president of the Maine Association of Realtors, of which both Huang and Clark are members.

While MAR asks its Realtors to voluntarily acknowledge mold remediation or other hazards, it doesn’t appear Huang or Clark made such disclosures on the Thurston Hill or Point Road grow houses.

McKee says it’s not out of the realm of possibility that an unscrupulous seller could put a dangerous property on the market, especially if visible aspects of an illegal cannabis grow like grow lights, electrical wires and watering systems have been removed from the house.

“We’re not law enforcement. We basically fill in blanks: Yes, no, unknown,” McKee said. “To your point, if (mold) was painted over, we would never know.”

Maine property records indicate about a dozen suspected former illicit grows have been purchased since hitting the market in the last year.

McKee says there is little recourse for buyers who only learn of the homes’ past tenants after the sale. Identifying the safety and history of a home, as well as any modifications made to it, is the job of the prospective buyer, McKee says, not the association or the Realtor.

“Any buyer should be doing their own investigations with their own people that they hire independently, and they make a decision if they want to move forward or not on a property,” McKee said.  “We’re not making judgement on legal or illegal, we just deal with the property and the boundaries of the land.”