Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is warning that Chinese-linked actors and foreign criminal organizations are playing a significant role in the proliferation of hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products and illegal marijuana operations in the US.

National Security Concerns

Wolf sent a letter to House lawmakers, stating that this issue presents a serious national security concern, in addition to public health implications. He cited a warning from the White House’s 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, which described how the marijuana trade in the US has been co-opted and industrialized by sophisticated, transnational criminal organizations, particularly those with ties to China.

These groups are exploiting states where marijuana has been legalized under state law, leveraging these markets and lax regulations to establish massive, unlicensed cultivation operations. In Oklahoma, for example, law enforcement estimates that Chinese criminal groups run more than 80% of the state’s thousands of marijuana and hemp farms.

These operations are not just agricultural; they are hubs of poly-crime involving human trafficking of exploited laborers, sophisticated money laundering, and the use of dangerous, unregistered pesticides that threaten public health and the environment.

Call to Action

Wolf is urging the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party to investigate China’s involvement in the intoxicating THC hemp supply chain, including financing, chemical manufacturing, illegal cultivation operations, money laundering activity, and ties to the array of criminal organizations operating within the US.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.