Chinese national charged following marijuana raids in central Maine

A Chinese national was federally charged for allegedly maintaining illegal marijuana grow facilities in central Maine.

Jiamin Liao, 29, of New York, is charged with two felony counts of maintaining a marijuana-involved premise, one in Madison and the other in Norridgewock, according to court records in U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor.

The case was unsealed Tuesday after Liao was arrested, court records said. An arrest warrant was issued May 15, when the case was filed under seal.

Police searched a home on Thurston Hill Road in Madison and one on Upper Main Street in Norridgewock in March , seizing roughly 600 marijuana plants at illegal grow houses.

The federal government is cracking down on illegal marijuana grow houses across the state, raiding more than 40 properties since mid-2023. A leaked federal government memo from August said there are up to 270 large-scale illegal grows in Maine connected to Chinese organized crime, with the money being used for crime in the U.S. or being sent back to China.

At the time Liao was charged with illegal cultivation of marijuana and drug trafficking in Somerset County after raids at houses in Madison and Norridgewock. She was taken to the local jail and released on a $10,000 bail.

Liao is accused of maintaining the Madison property from roughly Dec. 1, 2022, until March 25, 2024, when police raided it, according to the grand jury indictment. She also allegedly maintained an illegal marijuana grow from November to March on Upper Main Street in Norridgewock.

The federal government is also seeking forfeiture of $39,625, money it says was proceeds from the illegal marijuana grows.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.