The Brewer restaurant was closed for a short time during the raid but reopened Wednesday night and again on Thursday.

Local police and federal agents raided Chinese buffet restaurants in Brewer, Lewiston, Waterville and the Portland area on Wednesday — reportedly run by members of the family-run “Zhang Operation” — shutting at least four of them down temporarily.

Zi Qian Zhang reportedly is the leader of the Zhang Operation along with his wife, Ai Hui Lu, both of Massachusetts, according to an 18-page complaint filed late Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Brewer police and agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection raided the restaurant, a “safe house” on Elm Street and a second restaurant on Wilson Street that is owned by a member of the Zhang family.

Federal agents started an investigation in February 2006 into whether Zhang was hiring illegal Asian and Hispanic immigrants, housing them in crowded and “deplorable” safe houses and laundering money, court documents state.

Federal investigators say the Zhang Operation engaged in money laundering through its buffet restaurant operations in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the federal complaint states.

Little information was being released about the results of the raids — which were conducted at Twin Super Buffet in Brewer, Super China Buffet in Waterville and New China Buffet in Lewiston — including whether anyone was arrested or charged.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Clark said Wednesday afternoon that he could not comment on whether an investigation was under way or if anyone had been charged or taken into custody. He did not immediately return a message left for comment on Thursday morning.

BDN reporter Dawn Gagnon contributed to this story. Reprinted with permission from the Bangor Daily News.