AUBURN (AP) — A Canadian company has ditched plans to buy a marijuana-growing facility in Auburn, Maine.

The Bangor Daily News reports that Vancouver-based C21 investments pulled the plug on the deal because of rules imposed by the Maine Legislature.

But the newspaper said the property’s owner, Kevin Dean, is also linked to a federal marijuana-trafficking and money-laundering investigation.

A grand jury indicted Dean’s former business partner on drug-trafficking charges tied to his alleged use of Dean’s cultivation facility in Auburn.

Federal authorities said the charges against the former partner are part of an investigation of a larger trafficking ring that illegally grew marijuana “under the cover of, but in violation of, Maine’s medical marijuana program.”

In this Thursday, April 12, 2018, photo, workers work in a greenhouse growing cannabis plants at Glass House Farms in Carpinteria, Calif. Carpinteria, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, is located on the bottom of Santa Barbara County, a tourist area famous for its beaches, wine and temperate climate. It’s also gaining notoriety as a haven for cannabis growers. The county amassed the largest number of marijuana cultivation licenses in California since broad legalization arrived on Jan. 1, nearly 800, according to state data compiled by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)


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