OKLAHOMA CITY — A warehouse used as a distribution hub for a criminal organization suspected of trafficking millions of dollars in marijuana from Oklahoma farms to the out-of-state black market was raided by law enforcement officers last week.
Simultaneously, agents of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control stopped a semi-truck leaving the warehouse location loaded with almost 7,000 pounds of marijuana in vegetables boxes bound for New York.
“The potential street value of this shipment was nearly $28 million,” OBNDD spokesman Mark Woodward said.
“This was one of several recent operations targeting the pipeline of illegal marijuana leaving the state,” he said.
As part of an investigation in April, OBNDD raided a different Oklahoma City warehouse and intercepted a semi-truck hauling 7,000 pounds of marijuana hidden in camera equipment boxes destined for New Jersey and New York, Woodward said.
“These criminal organizations arrange for loads of marijuana to be transported off farms across the state to warehouses in places like Oklahoma City,” he said. “The marijuana is then repacked into boxes disguised as legitimate products and hauled in semi-trucks to their associates located across the United States.”
State Attorney General Gentner Drummond claimed recently that 40% of the marijuana consumed in New York City is grown in Oklahoma.
“My agency is committed to targeting and dismantling these international trafficking organizations that are embedded in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program,” OBNDD Director Donnie Anderson said. “They not only are responsible for black market marijuana trafficking but also have been linked to numerous other crimes, including homicides, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and worldwide money laundering.”
“Several additional investigations into these Oklahoma transshipment locations are ongoing,” Woodward said.
Although Oklahoma voters legalized medical marijuana, “mary jane” is still an illegal substance under federal law, Woodward noted.
Also, medical cannabis grown in this state “can only be sold/distributed in Oklahoma (by licensed businesses),” Porsha Riley, public relations manager for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, confirmed for Southwest Ledger.
Currently, 13 Asians have been indicted in Oklahoma’s Western District federal court here on drug conspiracy charges accusing them of illegal distribution of marijuana.
Four were indicted June 6, and five more were indicted June 20, on felony charges of drug conspiracy: possession with intent to distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants. Besides the felony charges, the federal government has instituted forfeiture proceedings against:
• Jian Hui Wu, 53, who owns real estate in Alex and was found to be in possession of $31,522 in U.S. currency, a rifle and two Glock pistols.
• Quan Li Sum, 58, who also was in possession of a Glock pistol.
• Vinnyh Thai Nguyen, 57, who owns property on NE 36th Street in Oklahoma City.
• Zheng Fu Zheng, a/k/a Zhe Fin Zhen, 60, and Wei Lin, 38, who own property in Watonga and were in possession of $102,100 in U.S. currency, a Mercedes-Benz automobile and a Mitsubishi forklift at the time of their arrest.
• Qifeng Ye, 49, and Ziquang Lin, 46. The latter owns property in Oakland, Oklahoma, (about a mile west of Madill) and was in possession of $50,000 in money orders and $35,474 in U.S. currency at the time of arrest.
• Jeff Weng, 46, and Tong Lin, 27. Lin owns real property located near Wetumka (northeast of Holdenville) off state Highway 9 and had $104,281 in U.S. currency when arrested. Their attorneys filed for a continuance in the case on July 20, indicating they are seeking a plea agreement that would “obviate a need for a trial.”
Vehicle disguised as Amazon delivery van used in conspiracy
In a separate case, Brandon Ye, owner of a company in Oklahoma City that makes kitchen counters and cabinets, is accused of using a vehicle disguised as an Amazon delivery van in an illicit marijuana distribution operation.
An Oklahoma City police officer assigned to an FBI task force reported in an affidavit that during surveillance on a “stash house” in northwest Oklahoma City last December, a Mercedes Sprinter van disguised as an Amazon delivery van backed into the driveway of the residence. Some “Asian men” unloaded several “full, black bags” from the rear of the van before the vehicle was driven away.
A search warrant executed at the residence several days later produced more than 60 pounds of marijuana packaged in one-pound vacuum-sealed bags stored in trash sacks, the officer reported. Agents with the OBNDD confirmed that the residence served as “a stash house for the distribution of illegal marijuana.”
A little more than a year earlier, the Oklahoma City officer wrote, law enforcement officers from the FBI and the OBNDD traveled to Arkansas to interview an individual who was arrested for transporting more than 100 pounds of marijuana, packaged in vacuum-sealed bags that were stored in large trash sacks, from Oklahoma to Arkansas.
The individual “admitted … that he picked up the marijuana from a business and warehouse, Arch Granite & Cabinetry” in Oklahoma City.
Records searches showed the disguised Amazon van and Arch Granite & Cabinetry both are owned by Ye, the Oklahoma City officer reported.
Further investigation showed Ye listed on utilities at a residence in northwest Oklahoma City where the suspect van was parked in the driveway overnight on multiple occasions, the task force officer reported. Amazon does not allow its drivers to park their delivery vehicles at their residences overnight, the court was informed.
Investigators alleged that marijuana was repackaged at the stash house and then transported to one of two warehouses under Ye’s control. At the warehouses “it appears that a semi-truck is loaded about once a week with the marijuana for transportation out-of-state,” the officer wrote.
Law enforcement officers in Indiana stopped a semi-truck found to be loaded with more than 2,700 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 22, 2023. The Chinese truck driver identified the Arch Granite warehouse in Oklahoma City as the location where the marijuana was loaded into his trailer, records reflect.
Federal indictments were returned against Ye and alleged co-conspirators Hui Chen, 42; Le Xu, 34; and Andy Zheng, 50. Ye and Chen were released from custody on bond pending further hearings, but Xu and Zheng remained in custody last week.
All four of them are engaged in “productive negotiations” with prosecutors, and a continuance in their case “will allow sufficient time for finalization of plea agreements” that will “negate the necessity of a jury trial,” their attorneys advised the court.
Attorney General Drummond said the Sooner State has become popular with international criminals.
“Our land is inexpensive, our enforcement of law has been lax, we have Interstate 40, Interstate 35, Interstate 44, and all the tributaries that go outside in other states. We have the ability to generate a lot of marijuana and other products, and we are the distribution network for the United States.”
Speaking to the Oklahoma Press Association last month, Drummond said two “significant” Mexican cartels have been identified “doing business in Oklahoma.” A Chinese syndicated crime organization is “robust” in this state. “We recently identified a Cuban cartel that is in our state.” And in the last six months “we’ve identified numerous Eastern Europeans that have come into Oklahoma.”