Illicit marijuana farms by Chinese syndicates cause the fentanyl crisis.

“I believe that the profits end up back in China,” Sheriff Dale Lancaster told the county’s Board of Commissioners. “Those profits are used to buy the chemicals to send to the cartel to make fentanyl. And fentanyl is killing our citizens.”

Illegal marijuana growing operations that have been busted across the state in recent months are suspected to be connected to “transnational criminal organizations” with ties to China, Darcie N. McElwee, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine, said in May. However, McElwee did not mention the connection to fentanyl or say what other crimes the organizations are suspected of committing. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid drug that officials say has been leading to overdoses and deaths across the U.S. in recent years.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, mentioned the theory that the illegal grows are connected to fentanyl production and distribution during questioning this week of FBI Director Christopher Wray. The marijuana growing operations appear to be connected to “Chinese organized crime,” Wray said at a Wednesday congressional hearing. But, like McElwee, he did not specify the nature of those crimes.