BOSTON – Seven Chinese nationals were charged in connection with a multi-million-dollar conspiracy to cultivate and distribute marijuana across the Northeast that used interconnected grow houses concealed inside single-family properties in Massachusetts and Maine. It is alleged that Chinese nationals were smuggled into the United States to work in these grow houses without access to their passports until they repaid their smuggling debts.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, the following individuals have been indicted on one count each of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, as well as additional charges listed respectively:
- Jianxiong Chen, 39, of Braintree, Mass. also indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy, 11 counts of money laundering and one count of bringing aliens into the United States;
- Yuxiong Wu, 36, of Weymouth, Mass. also indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy and four counts of money laundering;
- Dinghui Li, 38, of Braintree, Mass. also indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering;
- Dechao Ma, 35, of Braintree, Mass. also indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy and two counts of money laundering;
- Peng Lian Zhu, 35, of Melrose, Mass. also indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy;
- Hongbin Wu, 35, of Quincy, Mass.; and
- Yanrong Zhu, 47, of Greenfield, Mass. and Brooklyn, N.Y.
Yanrong Zhu remains a fugitive.
“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,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley…