💸 The Tape

In what sounds like the plot of a Tom Clancy novel crossed with a cannabis caper, federal investigators and local law enforcement are uncovering a sprawling web of illegal marijuana grows across rural Maine—with some eyebrow-raising ties to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked nonprofit based in Brooklyn.

Let’s set the scene: hundreds of cannabis plants flourishing in abandoned schools, recycling centers, and backwoods homes. But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill outlaw grow. According to a Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) investigation, at least two men arrested in a 2023 raid are not just growers—they’re leaders of the Sijiu Association of New York, a nonprofit with documented ties to the CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), a key political influence arm of Beijing.

One of those arrested, Huang Weizhan, reportedly told police he was “the boss” of the operation. As it turns out, he’s also the “executive chairman” of the Sijiu Association, which has collaborated with China’s consulate in New York and has agreed to fund UFWD initiatives in southern China. Not exactly your average community garden club.

Investigators say Maine has become a hotbed for these operations. A Department of Homeland Security memo identified 270 suspected illegal Chinese grow sites across the state, many hidden in plain sight. The Maine Wire has been on the ground chronicling the raids and the ripple effects on legal cannabis businesses, which are struggling to compete against untaxed, unregulated, and, in some cases, chemically tainted competition.

Former Border Patrol agent and policy fellow Ammon Blair called these grows “cash cows” for CCP-tied actors, potentially skirting U.S. banking restrictions. Even if the Sijiu Association hasn’t been formally charged, the organizational overlap with these operations is more than a little sus.

And while law enforcement continues executing search warrants, some of the players—like Huang—have already posted bail and, in one case, returned to China to promote rural investment. Whether this was innocent economic development or a “thank you” tour for services rendered is anyone’s guess.

What’s clear is this: Maine’s marijuana market isn’t just about green buds anymore—it’s entangled in geopolitics, foreign influence ops, and a cat-and-mouse game between regulators and transnational crime. As for the locals? Many are wondering how the Pine Tree State got caught in a Red web.

Follow @TheDankInformer on X for more.

📈 Dog Walkers.

$CURLF ( ▼ 3.07% ) Board Is Approved

What’s Going On Here:Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (TSX: CURA; OTCQX: CURLF), a leading international cannabis consumer products company, held its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders via live webcast. A total of 1.72 billion votes were cast, reflecting both subordinate (1 vote/share) and multiple voting shares (15 votes/share).

All six nominated directors were overwhelmingly re-elected:

• Michelle Bodner – 99.93% For

• Shasheen Shah – 99.92%

• Karl Johansson – 98.91%

• Boris Jordan – 97.92%

• Mitchell Kahn – 97.92%

• Joseph Lusardi – 97.98%

Shareholders also approved:

• Setting the Board size at 10 directors

• Reappointment of PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP as auditor

Full results are available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR.

$IIPR ( ▼ 0.52% ) Dividend Stays Intact Post Turmoil

What’s Going On Here: Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIPR), the NYSE-listed REIT focused exclusively on the U.S. regulated cannabis industry, announced a Q2 2025 common stock dividend of $1.90 per share, maintaining its annualized dividend at $7.60 per share. Since 2016, IIP has returned over $940 million to shareholders via common stock dividends.

Additionally, the board declared a $0.5625 per share quarterly dividend on its 9.00% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock.

Both dividends are payable July 15, 2025, to shareholders of record as of June 30, 2025.

🗞️ The News

📺 YouTube

Mike Tyson Highlights the Biggest Cannabis Stories This Week | TDR Weekly Recap

What we will cover:

✅ Host Shadd Dales walks you through the biggest cannabis and market developments from June 9 to June 13, 2025—and this one’s loaded with headlines.

We start with Mike Tyson’s surprise visit to the DEA, pushing for federal cannabis rescheduling. It’s a rare celebrity moment that might actually move the needle—especially with the Trump factor looming in 2024.

Then, we get into serious policy shakeups: a House subcommittee report calling out the FDA’s scheduling review process, a proposed federal hemp ban, and new momentum behind psychedelic research funding.

On the state side, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein is launching a bipartisan cannabis task force, while Ohio lawmakers try rewriting voter-approved legalization. And in New York, regulators issue a product recall that shows the legal market’s compliance mechanisms are actually working.