California officials raise warning on illegal Chinese pesticides

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August 25 2025

A new crisis has arisen in California that has authorities sounding an alarm on the smuggling of illegal pesticides.

Authorities tell NewsNation that Chinese criminal organizations and other Asian gangs have infiltrated the black-market marijuana industry and are smuggling the poison into the northern parts of the state.

One official added that the pesticides are killing everything in sight and destroying the environment.

“A lot of the chemicals that are being used are hazardous to humans,” says Matt Kendall, Mendocino County Sheriff.

Chinese cartels rely on migrant workers for smuggling pesticides

Kendall acknowledged that authorities are seeing a trend of large-scale illegal marijuana grow operations, controlled by Chinese cartels that are willing to murder to protect their criminal enterprises. The cartels rely on migrant workers who are trafficked into the U.S. for the purpose of growing black-market marijuana.

It’s also become common for these unlicensed cultivation sites to spray illegal pesticides onto the marijuana plants, causing enormous damage to the ecosystem.

“These criminal organizations use such a deadly, potent, toxic chemical because it absolutely keeps everything off their cash crop,” added Lt. John Nores Jr. of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“It keeps everything off their marijuana plant,” he said.

Other states facing the same illegal pesticide problem as California

Norris Jr. warns that if California doesn’t increase enforcement on these toxic chemicals, the environmental damage could take decades to reverse. Last month, Siskiyou County declared a state of emergency because of the illegal pesticides.

Authorities in Maine, Oklahoma, and New Mexico have also reported the use of illegal pesticides on Chinese-controlled marijuana grown sites.