That is recent air. I'm Terry Gross. When states started legalizing marijuana, one of many hopes was that it will cut back crime as a result of folks might purchase it legally from licensed sellers. However in some states, together with Oklahoma, legalization has inadvertently helped organized crime, significantly the Chinese language mafia, exploit new alternatives. Chinese language organized crime has come to dominate a lot of the nation's illicit marijuana commerce, from California to Maine, in line with a brand new collection of investigative experiences by a staff of 4 reporters from two nonprofit information organizations, ProPublica and The Oklahoma-based Frontier. .
My visitor, Sebastian Rotella, is the lead reporter for this collection. For a few years, he has investigated Chinese language organized crime in the USA, Europe and Latin America. He reported on the connection between Chinese language organized crime and China's authoritarian authorities and the way this relationship helps China develop its affect and energy around the globe. Rotella labored for almost 23 years for the Los Angeles Occasions earlier than becoming a member of ProPublica in 2010. He covers worldwide safety points, together with terrorism, intelligence, organized crime, human rights and migration.
The primary a part of the brand new collection focuses on Chinese language organized crime's tackle the unlawful marijuana market in America, which has led to will increase in different crimes, together with cash laundering. The primary half was revealed earlier this month. The second half emphasizes the hyperlinks between the Chinese language mafia and the Chinese language authorities and might be revealed tomorrow.
Sebastian Rotella, welcome again to FRESH AIR. I feel — and I feel lots of people suppose that authorized marijuana was supposed to cut back crime. So how has legalization really helped organized crime develop in a state like Oklahoma?
SEBASTIAN ROTELLA: Thanks very a lot, Terry. It's a pleasure speaking with you. I feel what has occurred is that you’ve this patchwork throughout the nation of legal guidelines as many states have legalized – nonetheless a federal legislation that makes transportation between states unlawful and the chance to make much more cash available in the market black. And so what you’ve gotten is – as you say, in principle, legalization ought to be regulated and may get rid of organized crime. And what you see in locations like California and Colorado and, extra not too long ago and dramatically, Oklahoma is that this feeding frenzy of organized crime teams dashing into these states and interesting within the tradition after which in site visitors throughout the nation.
GROSS: I feel that will be useful to know. That you need to do legally – and let's use Oklahoma for instance. What do you need to do legally to develop marijuana right here?
ROTELLA: Oklahoma is likely one of the most open authorized frameworks, however principally there’s a medical marijuana legislation. So you may develop marijuana, in principle, for medicinal functions. You have to have – be a resident of Oklahoma for at the least two years. And there are a collection of state licenses and laws that govern what you do and the place you promote and issues like that. What's occurred is there's simply been an enormous quantity of – an amazing variety of farms – at one level, there have been 10,000 rising operations in Oklahoma – and systematic abuse and violation of those legal guidelines, particularly the teams criminals who pay, illegally, residents of Oklahoma. being straw house owners and farms that produce much more marijuana than could possibly be consumed in Oklahoma for medical functions. And most of that marijuana travels throughout the nation, particularly the East Coast, to be bought illegally.
GROSS: So organized crime makes folks get up for themselves and get a license, after which organized crime can transfer and develop. And it appears authorized.
ROTELLA: And it has the facade of legality. And what occurs is then making the most of the truth that you will get much more cash, say, if you happen to promote medication in New York or on the East Coast. There may be smuggling of, you realize, truckloads of marijuana and big earnings – you realize, billions of {dollars} are made on this marijuana that’s grown in Oklahoma and that’s trafficked and bought elsewhere.
GROSS: Totally different states have totally different legal guidelines. And I'm speaking about states which have legalized marijuana in a single kind or one other. So how did the Chinese language mafia exploit the truth that there are such a lot of totally different legal guidelines in numerous states?
ROTELLA: You realize, they're remarkably nimble, cell, refined teams with lots of assets, partly as a result of the background to that is the way in which that Chinese language organized crime has come to dominate cash laundering for Mexican drug cartels in the USA and he acquired some huge cash. . And what they did with that cash – one of many issues they did was transfer into the marijuana enterprise. So when California, in the midst of the final decade, grew to become type of a spotlight of locations because it began to decriminalize and legalize, you’ve gotten teams primarily from New York and the East Coast that go to California, purchase homes, purchase farms, you. You realize, typically going into subdivisions and shopping for, you realize, half a dozen homes at a time and organising indoor rising and producing all this marijuana that’s then trafficked totally on the East Coast.
Then, when legislation enforcement begins to crack down on California and Oklahoma turns into the brand new hotbed — and beginning in 2018, these identical teams have moved shortly and dramatically into Oklahoma, typically utilizing personal planes. You could have outstanding scenes of personal planes flying from rural airstrips in California to Oklahoma with couriers carrying suitcases full of cash to exit and purchase farms in Oklahoma, the place land is affordable, and arrange new ones within the new hotspot the place they will do it too. more cash as a result of there actually are not any limits on how huge these farms are and the way a lot marijuana they will develop.
GROSS: Sure. You mentioned lots of California's unlawful trade is transferring to Oklahoma. And, like, why Oklahoma? You mentioned land is affordable right here. Is that this the primary purpose why Oklahoma has turn out to be such an incredible state for the unlawful development of marijuana?
ROTELLA: It's partly as a result of the soil is sweet. It's additionally as a result of the medical marijuana legislation they handed made it significantly simple to only transfer, set up and develop. In different states, there are limits on how a lot you may develop. In Oklahoma, there are not any limits. So you’ve gotten these enormous operations and 1000’s of farms rising marijuana and, you realize, legislation enforcement is overwhelmed and attempting to maintain up with it and stop what’s sort of wholesale trafficking in different states.
GROSS: Does the truth that totally different states have totally different legal guidelines make it more durable to implement the legal guidelines?
ROTELLA: Sure, it’s. And it makes it much more troublesome as a result of on the federal degree, although it's, you realize, unlawful beneath the federal interstate site visitors legislation, there's a sure reluctance, we're instructed — a sure reluctance to get very, very concerned. within the utility of marijuana on the federal degree due to this case the place you’ve gotten many states the place it’s unlawful or decriminalized. So the primary manner you see federal legislation enforcement concerned is once they're going after — say, within the case of Chinese language organized crime teams, they're going after refined teams concerned in cash laundering. And all of the sudden, they’ll uncover that those self same teams that launder cash for the Mexican cartels to promote fentanyl are additionally shopping for up farms in Oklahoma and making much more cash rising and trafficking marijuana.
So there's this patchwork that’s — it makes issues very difficult for legislation enforcement and significantly with Chinese language organized crime, which may be very refined and secretive. And there are these, you realize, language boundaries in locations like Oklahoma. You realize, the state authorities – they only have loads to study and so they needed to work very arduous to know simply these teams and the way they work, that are nationwide and worldwide in scope.
GROSS: To make the grass develop, many employees are exploited. Examine a few of the employees who develop this weed for the Chinese language mafia to indentured servants. Lots of them are immigrants. Are you able to describe the workforce for this illicit trade?
ROTELLA: After all. I imply, these are 1000’s of employees, most of them Chinese language immigrants themselves, a lot of whom arrive on the Mexican border. I interviewed one who, you realize – it's a traditional odyssey, coming from China all the way in which to South America, all the way in which to the Mexican border, she's caught, she asks for asylum, she's launched, she goes to New York, and really feel that this. there’s work in Oklahoma marijuana farms. Then he confirmed up. He's, you realize, in Oklahoma and he goes to work and finds, you realize, a whole bunch and 1000’s like him. And so they work on these farms.
You realize, at finest, they work very lengthy hours for low pay. And at worst they’re abused. Their wages are – you realize, they aren’t paid. There may be bodily abuse. There’s a management over them by way of, you realize, being stored typically in these farms. It’s a very troublesome, murky world. It is vitally troublesome to strengthen the safety of employees. You even have prostitution, the place there was a case in Oklahoma, for instance, the place you had, you realize, a brothel arrange the place ladies – you realize, there have been prices of human trafficking as a result of they have been compelled into prostitution to serve the managers and the directors of those farms on this brothel in Oklahoma linked to the marijuana trade.
GROSS: And by way of working situations, describe how legislation enforcement cleared one among these unlawful grows, and so they thought they have been standing within the mud, nevertheless it was human excrement. And that is…
ROTELLA: That's proper.
GROSS: Yeah, that's an instance of the working situations in a few of these locations.
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https://www.wyso.org/2024-03-21/how-the-chinese-mafia-came-to-control-much-of-the-illicit-marijuana-trade-in-the-us
