Partner Spotlight

Daniel W. Neill, Executive Director, Midwest HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area)

Welcome and congratulations, Dan! You were nominated and selected as Chairman of the Marijuana Impact Group (MIG) by your fellow HIDTA Directors and ONDCP leadership—people who have a long history working alongside you. That’s quite an honor.

I am told your new role will be in addition to your work at HIDTA. Can you tell us a bit about that work?

As Executive Director of the Midwest HIDTA, I cover six states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri as well as parts of Illinois. This division covers the largest land mass and has the third largest budget in the United States. Our initiatives support law enforcement and public health and bring awareness to the wide range of issues associated with the illicit drug trade.

What is the Marijuana Impact Group?

The Marijuana Impact Group unites law enforcement, intelligence analysts, and subject matter experts nationwide to strengthen intelligence sharing, align operational strategies, and ensure resources are directed to the most significant marijuana-related threats. When I took over the Marijuana Impact Group, I wanted to get away from testing and focus more on providing the tools to law enforcement, prosecutors, and legislators to beat this issue back.

What are the Group’s current priorities?

I am leading a coordinated national effort to address emerging and significant marijuana-related threats. Current priorities include foreign national involvement in illicit cultivation, particularly organized criminal groups from China. We are targeting human trafficking and labor exploitation within these operations as well as environmental destruction, violent crime, community destabilization, and the national security risks associated with transnational criminal financing.

Can you tell our readers why the Marijuana Impact Group is important for our families?

Beyond addiction, families need to know about the evolving impacts and threats associated with today’s marijuana.

I think families need to know that we’ve uncovered black-market activities far beyond simple illegal marijuana grows. These sophisticated Chinese marijuana operations now dominate the U.S. illegal drug market. Oklahoma’s illegal marijuana production alone ranges between $18 and $44 billion a year—and Chinese criminal groups run more than 80% of them. Did you know that Oklahoma actually has more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks?

Illegal marijuana grows directly harm our communities, and families need to know the risk. First and foremost, it’s a national security issue. But it’s also an environmental issue and a human rights and violence issue.

The national security threat is significant. Ask yourself: Would China let a U.S. citizen come into the country, communicate only on apps that have servers in the U.S., buy property, grow and sell drugs, and launder money out of the country? The answer is no, but it is happening to us here in the U.S. These organizations use WeChat, an encrypted messaging app based in China, to scroll through job listings for illegal marijuana grows, coordinate criminal activities, and transfer illegal funds from the U.S. to China. U.S. law enforcement has no way to intercept it, no way to subpoena information off the app.

As a result, billions of dollars are being sent back to China through marijuana trafficking in the U.S. Maine, Oklahoma, and California are the current hot spots where the marijuana is being grown, but it affects all of us. The product is sold across the country, and their profits fund broader criminal operations, including fentanyl trafficking.

The environmental threat is that they are bringing in Chinese pesticides with astounding levels of toxicity. These pesticides remain on the marijuana product itself and contaminate our water system and our land. Law enforcement personnel are also being exposed to these chemicals and are getting hurt. In Siskiyou County in northern California, they’ve declared a countywide emergency on these pesticides and chemicals from China. Eighteen other counties in California are following suit. That’s how big an issue it is.

And lastly, there is the human trafficking aspect. People are being brought over from China with the promise of good-paying jobs. Instead, they live in squalor. They are abused. They are slaves. They live with violence and constant fear.

This is why the Marijuana Impact Group exists. I would encourage you to visit https://themig.org/ to learn more and stayed informed.