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James D. Libby of Standish is a Maine state senator and a Republican candidate for governor.
Maine needs a governor who understands that recent reports of drug operations by Chinese nationals in Maine are only a first-level problem, when compared to the potential for use of bioweapons or other military threats from within our borders, both here in the United States and right here in Maine.
People and entities from the People’s Republic of China have bought thousands of properties in the United States, some right here in Maine. In fact, the National Association of Realtors stated in a July report that people with ties to China comprised the largest foreign buyer in the United States in terms of both the dollar volume of homes purchased and number of existing homes purchased. Chinese buyers “purchased $13.7 billion of existing homes, up significantly from $7.5 billion in the prior period” during the 12-months between April 2024 to March 2025. The number of existing homes in the United States that were purchased over the past year came in at 11,700 homes. Some of these homes were purchased in cash.
As most Mainers now know, some of the property owners in question harvested cannabis and likely moved other drugs. Several Maine and national media outlets have reported involvement of Chinese nationals in a series of drug busts. One Chinese immigrant was reported to have become a naturalized U.S. citizen at the time of arrest. By definition, purchases by naturalized citizens from China are not a part of the National Association of Realtors report.
Other Chinese nationals were reported to be brought to Maine illegally, according to a July report in the Bangor Daily News. One suspect is accused of “smuggling Chinese nationals across the Mexican border,” and “reportedly forcing those people to work in the grow houses that he controlled and withheld their passports until he received payment for the smuggling operation.”
In light of these developments, there is absolutely no excuse for ignoring this problem, which has been reported to have started in Maine more than five years ago. With the July revelation that two Chinese nationals were indicted in Maine by the Department of Justice for operating numerous illegal “grow houses” while also being “licensed” to grow medical marijuana, lawmakers and the Governor’s Office of Cannabis Policy are essentially being called to the carpet.
The problem in Maine is not simply that we have decriminalized cannabis or watched bills to decriminalize possession of certain quantities of drugs pass through the Legislature into law. These issues are important, but we may have larger future worries.
A problem that is of great concern is the strategic behavior of the People’s Republic of China itself. The State Department suspects that the Chinese government may be violating a signed biological weapons accord, and we are nearly certain that China has existing plans to potentially exploit newfound bioweapon capabilities and toxin-based agents should offensive conditions exist. These dangers go far beyond the COVID-19 issues that we have already endured.
We in Maine have given unfettered access to a portion of the immigrant population from the People’s Republic of China that has the research and capability to cause us great harm. Ideally, a small group of nationalists would not reflect upon otherwise law-abiding, freedom-seeking immigrants. Yet, the fact is that the United States and other countries have caught Chinese nationals smuggling dangerous biological contaminants, pathogens and research-related items.
We must be vigilant. I believe the likelihood of contaminants here in Maine is high. We cannot afford a lackadaisical approach to these dangers.