Six Indicted in Las Vegas Over Alleged Illegal Marijuana Grow Houses, DEA Cites Organized Crime Ties

A federal grand jury charged six Las Vegas residents with running four unlicensed marijuana grows, one near a public park, as prosecutors point to broader organized-crime concerns.

FILE — cultivation · Cannabis Tours / CC BY-SA 4.0

A federal grand jury has indicted six people accused of operating four large-scale, unlicensed marijuana grow houses across the Las Vegas valley, according to the Department of Justice's District of Nevada office as reported by KTNV.

The Charges

The defendants — Changtian Mai, Hoi Man Mak (also known as Antares Mak), Shengsheng Feng, Zhifeng Mai, Jianwen Mai and Jianquan Mai — are accused of playing active roles in cultivating 1,000 or more marijuana plants at four properties between January 2025 and February 2026, KTNV reported, citing the DOJ.

Court records cited by KTNV identify the four searched properties as homes on Daily Double Avenue, Summerday Court, West Diablo Drive and Sea Hero Street. Officials said the Sea Hero Street property sits within 1,000 feet of Wayne Bunker Family Park, a detail tied to one of the charges: conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a protected area, plus a related manufacturing count, according to KTNV.

Changtian Mai faces two additional counts of money laundering, KTNV reported. The DOJ said each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, and all six are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 1.

Officials Cite Organized Crime

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada said, as quoted by KTNV, "Transnational criminal networks that exploit our domestic markets and compromise community safety will be dismantled," adding that such operations are "frequently backed by global criminal enterprises engaged in labor exploitation, weapons offenses, and multi-million-dollar money laundering schemes."

DEA Special Agent in Charge David Olesky of the Los Angeles Field Division, which oversees Nevada, said the Las Vegas Homeland Security Task Force "continues to answer the call and hold accountable criminal organizations," and characterized the case as involving "Chinese Organized Crime" intent on "cashing in" through the four illegal grow houses, according to KTNV's reporting.

Nevada's Licensed Market, for Context

The alleged grow houses operated outside Nevada's regulated adult-use system. State license data show Nevada currently has 106 open retail licenses, 104 cultivation licenses, 83 manufacturing licenses and eight testing labs — a licensed supply chain distinct from the unlicensed sites described in the indictment. Available reporting does not indicate any connection between the indicted operation and Nevada's licensed cannabis industry.

Broader Industry Backdrop

Separately from this case, other recent Nevada cannabis coverage includes Green Thumb Industries opening its 13th Nevada dispensary location in Sparks on Aug. 18, according to Yahoo Finance, and Vireo Growth's announced acquisition of Planet 13 Holdings, which would add 36 dispensaries, as reported by Cannabis Business Times. KOLO/8 News Now has also reported that Nevada's licensed industry is adapting following federal marijuana reclassification. None of these developments is described in available reporting as related to the six defendants named in the federal indictment.

What to Watch

The Sept. 1 arraignment will be the next public step in the case. It remains unclear from available reporting how the four properties were discovered, whether additional suspects or entities are under investigation, or what evidence supports the DOJ's characterization of the operation as tied to organized crime, since KTNV's report does not detail the underlying investigative record beyond the court filings on the property searches and charges. Cannabis Newz will continue to follow developments as court proceedings advance.