7 Chinese nationals charged in MASSIVE money laundering, human smuggling, drug trafficking operation

Seven Chinese nationals have been charged in connection to a conspiracy to cultivate as well as distribute marijuana in the Northeastern United States. They undertook this operation by using a network of single-family houses in Massachusetts as well as Maine, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).  

A press release from the DOJ on the charges stated that Jianxiong Chen, 39; Yuxiong Wu, 36; Dinghui Li, 38; Dechao Ma, 35; Peng Lian Zhu, 35; Hongbin Wu, 35; and Yanrong Zhu, 47 were all charged in connection to the network distributing the drugs around the Northeast. Six of the defendants were taken into custody earlier this week, with Yanrong Zhu still on the run as a fugitive.  

Most of the Chinese nationals have been charged with money laundering as well as conspiracy, and some were also charged with bringing assisting with bringing foreign nationals to the US illegally.

US Attorney Leah B. Foley said of the charges, "This case pulls back the curtain on a sprawling criminal enterprise that exploited our immigration system and our communities for personal gain. These defendants allegedly turned quiet homes across the Northeast into hubs for a criminal enterprise – building a multi-million-dollar black-market operation off the backs of an illegal workforce and using our neighborhoods as cover. That ends today." 

The DOJ further stated, "According to the charging documents, from in or about January 2020, the defendants allegedly owned, operated or partnered with a network of interconnected grow houses in Massachusetts and Maine to cultivate and distribute kilogram-sized quantities of marijuana in bulk. Specifically, the enterprise allegedly operated grow houses in Braintree, Mass.; Melrose, Mass.; and Greenfield, Mass., among other locations in Massachusetts, Maine and elsewhere." 

"It is alleged that the grow house operators maintained contact with each other through a list of marijuana cultivators and distributors from or with ties to China in the region called the 'East Coast Contact List,'" the DOJ added.  

There were several "grow" houses in Maine as well as in Massachusetts. Chen was allegedly the "ring leader" of the operation, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division Ted E. Docks, said, and added that Chen has been "charged with paying to smuggle a Chinese national across the Mexican border to work at his grow houses," adding, "This takedown highlights the need for a sustained law enforcement effort, across all levels, to shut down and thoroughly investigate the organized criminal enterprises behind these unlicensed and illegal operations.”