Four illegal immigrants from China are facing felony charges over a multi-million dollar illegal marijuana growing operation in Iosco County following arrests on Thursday.
The Michigan State Police’s Marijuana and Tobacco Investigations Section executed a search warrant on a warehouse in Alabaster Township on Thursday and recovered 5,057 marijuana plants worth an estimated $5 million, according to Iosco County Prosecutor James Bacarella.
“Further investigation led Law Enforcement to an apartment on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, where they found evidence which tied four individuals to the illegal marijuana growing operation,” according to a news release.
A Michigan State Police trooper located a vehicle associated with the grow operation heading south on U.S. 23 in Iosco County and police arrested the suspects inside, which included four Chinese nationals “who were in the country illegally.”
“The GPS on the driver’s phone was set for an address in New York State. It appears the subjects were fleeing the area,” the release read. “The illegal grow operation appears to be part of a larger operation involving organized crime which spans multiple states and China.”
Suspects in the vehicle include Meiqing Chen, Zhenhong Nei, Wenying Wu and Changning Zhen. Chen Wu and Zhen pleaded not guilty at their arraignments on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver more than 200 marijuana plants and maintaining a drug manufacturing facility.
In May 2025, Michigan authorities dismantled a large-scale illegal marijuana operation in Alabaster Township, Iosco County, seizing over 5,000 plants valued at more than $5 million. Four Chinese nationals—Meiqing Chen, Zhenhong Nei, Wenying We, and Changning Zhen—were arrested… pic.twitter.com/9AX8F9Zao9
— Global Crime News (@glbalcrimenews) June 2, 2025
The former comes with a potential 15-year prison sentence, while the latter carries up to two years in prison.
Nei was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and has not yet been arraigned, according to the Iosco County Prosecutor.
“A Michigan State Police hazardous materials team took custody of the marijuana plants and destroyed them,” WJRT reports.
U.S. Boarder Patrol Chief Patrol Agent John Morris posted to X about the arrest of a special interest alien from China in Tawas City on Thursday.
Sault Ste. Marie agents arrested a Special Interest Alien from China Thursday in a collaborated effort with law enforcement partners. The illegal alien faces removal from the United States. If you see something, say something. 1-800-537-3220.#BorderSecurity #DetroitSector pic.twitter.com/XJolgbjnqU
— Chief Patrol Agent John R.Morris (@USBPChiefDTM) June 1, 2025
“Sault Ste. Marie agents arrested a Special Interest Alien from China Thursday in a collaborated effort with law enforcement partners,” the post read. “The illegal alien faces removal from the United States. If you see something, say something. 1-800-537-3220.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, a Special Interest Alien “is a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests.”
“Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism,” the DHS website reads. “DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin, and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.”
The arrests in Iosco County follow others involving Chinese nationals who were charged with spying on U.S. military operations in Michigan.
Federal prosecutors in October charged five University of Michigan graduates from China with spying on Camp Grayling National Guard base as it conducted Northern Strike, one of the largest National Guard exercises in the nation.
FBI Special Agent Caroline Julee Colpoys wrote in a criminal complaint that the five Chinese nationals were found with cameras at Camp Grayling during Northern Strike on Aug. 13, 2023, when they were caught by a Utah National Guard sergeant major taking photos just feet from military vehicles, tents and communications equipment.
The students face charges including conspiracy, lying to federal investigators, and destroying records during a federal investigation.
That case, along with criminal charges filed against a Chinese UM student for voting illegally in 2024, has fueled both opposition to an EV battery component plant planned for Mecosta County that has strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and efforts by Michigan lawmakers to crack down on Chinese influence in Michigan.
The Gotion plant, which remains bogged down in litigation and fierce public opposition, involves $715 million in taxpayer-funded business incentives secretly negotiated by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration and select lawmakers.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are now pushing legislation, House Bill 4052, to ban non-disclosure agreements that shield details on development deals from taxpayers.
House Republicans and some Democrats also approved legislation last month to prevent the sale of farm lands near military instillations and other sensitive public infrastructure to adversarial nations, including China.
The bills are part of a broader legislative package that also includes legislation to limit public contracts with countries of concern, ensure health data and technology is housed in the U.S. or Canada, and other protections.
