Six men were arrested and one remains wanted after a federal investigation into a ring of Chinese-run cannabis grow houses across Maine and Massachusetts.
Dylan Tusinski
Staff Writer
Dylan Tusinski is an investigative reporter with the Maine Trust for Local News' quick strike team, where his stories largely focus on money, drugs and government accountability. He has written about international drug trafficking rings, Maine's housing crisis, political polarization and much more. He previously worked for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville from 2023 to 2025. When he's not on the clock, Dylan can often be found at the nearest Grateful Dead cover band show or minor league hockey game.
Posted inLocal & State, Maine Crime, Morning Sentinel
Burnham woman again charged with animal cruelty
The state is investigating a woman who allegedly kept and sold malnourished horses, cows, dogs and cats at her Burnham property and was convicted of nearly identical charges about 15 years ago.
advertisement
Posted inLocal & State, News
Judge restores legal protections for Haitians, says Trump administration overstepped authority
Maine immigration advocates warned that hundreds of people living in Maine to escape wars, gang violence and natural disasters would have faced deportation within weeks had the administration terminated their legal protections.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Hundreds of Haitians in Maine face potential deportation as Trump administration ends legal protections
The country has been under temporary protected status since 2010, a designation that allows people to stay and work in the U.S. if their home country is deemed unsafe due to war or natural disaster, both of which Haiti has faced in recent years.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Slayings in Chelsea raise questions about Maine’s juvenile mental health system
A teenager was charged with killing his foster father and cousin, but little is known about the child’s time in state care.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Q&A: What are my rights at the border?
Can Border Patrol agents search your phone? Can you be detained and questioned? Many Maine travelers are asking how to prepare for international travel amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Opioid settlements fund Maine’s only women’s residential treatment center between Portland and Bangor
The family of a former figure skater who died of a drug overdose is opening a facility in the Knox County town of Washington as Maine moves to bolster addiction treatment in rural communities.
Posted inLocal & State, Maine Crime, News
Mold, arsenic, chemicals found in weed from Maine’s illegal grow houses
The amount of mold in some cannabis samples from illegal Chinese operations maxed out the laboratory’s equipment while others contained lead, pesticides and banned chemicals.
Posted inLocal & State, Maine Crime, News, Politics
How a former lawmaker grew weed with alleged Chinese crime groups in rural Maine
A web of shell companies and illegal grows allegedly linked to Chinese organized crime traces its start to one former Democratic legislator, his cannabis consulting business, and his chain of central Maine dispensaries.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Schools and Education
Trump administration has frozen $50M in UMaine System funding so far
More than $21 million in grants was either terminated or put on hold as the university system was negotiating their terms and conditions, college officials say.