Thread by @BigSteve207

🚨NEW: An unsealed federal search-warrant application reveals investigators have zeroed in on a Chinese drug-trafficking network operating out of Dexter, Stetson, Norridgewock & Ripley, Maine.

At the center:
🇨🇳 “Larry” Zhao of Brooklyn
🇨🇳 Wen Hui “Wen” Li of Las Vegas

🧵🪡

According to a sealed 50-page affidavit filed March 17, investigators caught their break when Zhao & Li were stopped crossing back into the U.S. from Canada and were forced to hand over their phones.

Full story: AsMaineGoes.com

DEA task-force officers then secured warrants for 4 Maine properties linked to the pair — each showing red flags for commercial-scale illegal cannabis grows: massive power usage, structural mods, and suspicious financial flows.

The affidavit says the operation was fueled by mortgage fraud, shell companies, foreign money transfers & straw buyers. Federal investigators say these sites fit patterns seen in the 270+ Chinese cartel grow houses DHS flagged across Maine.

WeChat messages pulled from Zhao’s phone show him telling partners that Maine operations had “ceased” due to “local police concerns” — matching the lull in cartel activity after public reporting and increased scrutiny.

💰Financial irregularities are everywhere:
• False statements on mortgage docs for Stetson & Norridgewock
• Money moving from Zhao’s personal accounts → LLCs → straw buyers
• Payments to straw purchaser Qiongyan Wu, whom Zhao claimed was his “cousin”
• A $10k “gift” check to Wu + a $20k transfer to her LLC (739 Sandy River, Inc.)
• $20k–$75k movements tied to property acquisitions
• Electricity paid through CheckFreePay to hide the funding source
• Casino transactions in Canada that investigators believe laundered proceeds

The investigation kicked into high gear after CBP detained the pair on April 6, 2024, at the Blaine, WA port of entry. Officers seized three iPhones and $11,000 in undeclared cash.
Phone data included:
🌱 Photos of large cannabis grows
💵 Vacuum-sealed marijuana packages
📊 Spreadsheets showing profit-splits
📱 Chats between Zhao & Li showing a shared managerial role

Interviews with straw buyers He and Wu show both distancing themselves from the grow sites — even as investigators produced WeChat messages, checks, and transfer records tied directly to Zhao.

Both claim the money came from “parents overseas,” even though DocuSign metadata for all the financial documents shows they were signed using [e-mail] with IP addresses pinging from California, Texas, Wisconsin & New York.

Check out my episode with @TuckerCarlson and my documentary at @TCNetwork for more insight into Chinese organized crime in New England.

tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-st…