Request for Information (RFI) – Weekly SITREP

General Location: Upper New England

Food Price / Shortages: Elevated/ None. Shrinkflation of product is evident everywhere.

Fuel Prices / Shortages: $3.20 Reg/ None

Unusual Military Movement: None

Civil Unrest / Crime:
Hard drug busts among users and low/mid level traffickers are more frequent. There have been
more raids of Chicom Marijuana grow operations in Maine. Most of these raids are local or state
law enforcement and do not always result in arrests.

Interesting Local News / Events: Findings were issued on the USAR Lewiston Maine shooter which concluded that he suffered from traumatic brain injury from being a range officer. He was not a combat veteran.

Another odd coastal storm producing peak 60mph+ southeast onshore winds right at high tide passed through over the weekend. This is the 3rd major bout of coastal storm damage this winter. All the same spots were flooded again.

Public Service Interruptions: Widespread power loss associated with the storm.

Changes in Patterns of Life:

Any additional observations or comments:
Analysis: The hard drug problem is being fed directly from southern New England cities. When a local branch of the network is rolled up, a down and out local addict is always the facilitator and provider of a safehouse for ethnic vibrant couriers moving the product from their home state, usually a place like Lawrence Massachusetts. The mugshots and perp bio data always tell the same tale. It appears that locals with a keen eye usually bring these networks to the attention of LE.

The liberalization of Maine’s Marijuana laws opened the door to widespread open abuse of that drug and established an opportunity for Chicom enterprises to leverage that degree of sanctuary into a huge illegal grow operation in hundreds of legally purchased rural homes. Federal LE still seems uninterested in going after these operations. Once again, locals are spotting the activity and local LE is making the raids. The main indicators to watch for are newly installed industrial scale electrical service in a modest home. Excessive heat pumps or similar heating for the size of the home, and real estate purchases by and presence of out of state Chinese ethnics. This all stands out like a sore thumb in non-tourist rural Maine. The crop watchers often are middle aged PRC nationals who do not even speak English and are in the country illegally. Each specific grow “Household” seems to rely on a support team of personnel who speak better English, have a license to drive somewhere, and do the grocery shopping and trips to the transfer station for the growers.