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OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) shut down an illegal marijuana grow operation that spanned Mayes and Craig Counties.
According to authorities, they seized more than 1,000 pounds of processed marijuana and 40,723 marijuana plants.
Six handguns and three silencers were also taken into custody.
A man named Qi Wei Chen, who the attorney general’s office identified as a Chinese national, was arrested.
“The Organized Crime Task Force and its partner agencies across the state are having a meaningful impact attacking the illegal marijuana trade that has infiltrated Oklahoma since the 2018 legalization of medical marijuana,” said Attorney General Drummond. “The Chinese crime syndicates and Mexican drug cartels are getting the message loud and clear that they are not welcome in Oklahoma. We will not let up until this scourge is erased from our state.”
Authorities reported they began investigating the operation earlier this month after pulling over several cars with out-of-state license plates who they said were transporting untagged marijuana from various places in Vinita.
Chen was charged in Craig County with Aggravated Manufacturing of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Trafficking of a Controlled Dangerous Substance and Possession of a Firearm in Commission of a Felony.
The AG’s office said 15 people working at these facilities were detained by ICE for deportation.
”}]] Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) shut down an illegal marijuana grow operation that spanned Mayes and Craig Counties. Read More
