GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Several people with direct ties to West Michigan are facing federal charges for allegedly running a massive money laundering and illicit cannabis operation.
A complaint filed in federal court, that was just unsealed this week, outlines an investigation conducted between Homeland Security Investigators (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Naigang Lin is accused of running a drug trafficking organization between 2017 and May 2023, accused of money laundering and illicit cannabis distribution.
Lin was apparently a longtime resident of West Michigan before recently relocating to Oklahoma, where he is accused of laundering proceeds of illicit sales from unlicensed cannabis growers.
He was allegedly running his operation out of a Chinese restaurant located in Oklahoma City, a business going by the name of "Private Kitchen."
"Regular surveillance at the restaurant, including both on-the-ground surveillance and surveillance via pole cameras, has established that either marijuana and/or drug proceeds are being aggregated there," the complaint against Lin reads.
"Law enforcement consistently observes individuals enter and exit Private Kitchen carrying backpacks, boxes, or luggage."
The complaint alleges that a "cooperating defendant" told investigators that Lin "markets himself" as being able to "move" money for cannabis distributors for a 6% fee, as long as they are looking to move more than $10,000.
Besides allegedly cleaning money for outside illicit cannabis, Lin is accused of distributing cannabis he grew himself.
He is accused of using the "Private Kitchen" bank account to launder funds for other cannabis distributors.
Lin's three brothers, Naiyang Lin, Naiqing Lin and Brandon Lin, as well as his mother, Li Yang, and his father, Dong Lin, are named as alleged co-conspirators of the operation in the federal complaint.
In all, the feds accuse Lin of helping to facilitate laundering of about $25 million, primarily from "black market marijuana trafficking."
"Lin and his associates are primarily using wire transfers, cashier’s checks, funnel accounts and the purchase of real estate, cars and businesses in order to launder their criminally derived proceeds," the complaint reads.
The documents claim that, as of May 2023, law enforcement officers have seized more than 4,000 cannabis plants from illegal grows, more than 3,500 pounds of processed cannabis and over $225,000 from Lin and his alleged co-conspirators.
Several locations in West Michigan have been identified by law enforcement as potentially related to Lin's alleged operations.
The complaint alleges that a residence on Bonasa Drive NE in Rockford "appears to be part of the money laundering conspiracy."
At a location on Homerich Avenue SW, agents allegedly found an indoor cannabis grow, seizing 3,030 plants and about 42 pounds of processed cannabis.
In February 2022, Michigan State Police executed search warrants on three properties owned by Lin, including two residences in East Lansing.
They found cannabis at each one — 85.25 pounds at one, 119.37 pounds at another and 1,079 plants found at the last.
In May 2022, a suspected courier for Lin was stopped driving a U-Haul van in Tampa, Florida.
Officers seized about 1,900 pounds of cannabis from the van.
The federal complaint filed against Lin explains that federal agents had two cooperating sources within the investigation; one of them allegedly previously transported cannabis for Lin's operation.
"Each has further corroborated that LIN is a prolific black market marijuana broker," the complaint says in reference to the confidential sources.
According to court documents, Lin was previously investigated by the FBI in 2017 and 2018 for alleged wire fraud, illegal gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking.
He is now facing a federal money laundering conspiracy charge.
