Attorney General Gentner Drummond says Oklahoma 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 earlier this 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.”
Forty percent of the marijuana that is consumed in New York City is grown in Oklahoma, Drummond claimed.
Five Asians were indicted June 20 in Oklahoma City’s federal district court by a grand jury accusing each of them 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.
“With the distribution of marijuana, if you’re going to be an illegal actor you might as well include human trafficking, sex trafficking, fentanyl, and other stuff,” Drummond said. “It’s literally coming from China into Mexico, from the cartels, through the border, up to Oklahoma in liquid form, manufactured in pill form and passed out.”
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, using chemicals largely sourced from China, are primarily responsible for the vast majority of fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States.
The U.S. Justice Department announced last Friday the arrest of two individuals and the unsealing of three indictments in the southern and eastern districts of New York charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes related to fentanyl production, distribution, and sales resulting from precursor chemicals.
The indictments represent the first prosecutions to charge China-based chemical manufacturing companies and nationals of the People’s Republic of China for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals into the U.S.
Specifically, the indictments allege the defendants knowingly manufactured, marketed, sold, and supplied precursor chemicals for fentanyl production in the United States in violation of federal law.
OKC grand jury issued fentanyl indictments
Kevin Rutherford, 32, and Crystal Hammond, 33, were indicted in Oklahoma City federal court June 20 on charges of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and maintaining a drug-involved premises in Oklahoma City.
Also that day, Julia Elizabeth Rodriguez Ortega, 31, a Mexican national who was living in California, was sentenced in Oklahoma City’s federal court to serve more than 11 years in prison for her guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to possess fentanyl with intent to distribute.
In support of his 135-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Scott Palk cited, among other things, the serious nature of the offense and Rodriguez Ortega’s repeated pattern of smuggling drugs into the U.S from Mexico.
Palk decreed that Rodriguez Ortega also must submit to five years of supervised release after her discharge from prison. She has been in federal custody since her arrest 16 months ago.
Federal prosecutors introduced records at Rodriguez Ortega’s sentencing hearing which showed that she had been documented driving cars loaded with drugs into the U.S. from Mexico on several occasions since 2020. However, because she engaged in “driver swaps” she was able to evade capture.
But while driving through Oklahoma on Feb. 9, 2022, Rodriguez Ortega was stopped by agents of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control who eventually searched her car and found more than 40 pounds of powder fentanyl.
The United States presented evidence at an earlier hearing that the amount of fentanyl possessed by Rodriguez Ortega equated to nine million fatal doses and had an approximate street value of $10 million.
DEA delivered warning about fentanyl laced with horse sedative
Three months ago the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a nationwide warning about a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with a veterinary medication, xylazine.
Xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” is a powerful sedative that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use. Xylazine is a pharmaceutical drug used for sedation, anesthesia, muscle relaxation, and analgesia in animals such as horses, cattle, and other non-human mammals.
“Xylazine is making fentanyl – the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced – even deadlier,” said Administrator Anne Milgram. “DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states.”
That includes Oklahoma, which recorded nine fatalities in 2022 involving fentanyl laced with xylazine, said Mark Woodward, public information officer for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
The DEA Laboratory System reported that in 2022, approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.
Xylazine and fentanyl drug mixtures place users at a higher risk of suffering a fatal drug poisoning. Because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects. Still, experts always recommend administering naloxone if someone might be suffering a drug poisoning. People who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine also can develop severe wounds, including necrosis – the rotting of human tissue – that may lead to amputation.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 107,735 Americans died between August 2021 and August 2022 from drug poisonings, and two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Drummond said “drug lords” are simply developing their market.
“If we passed out fentanyl tablets to everybody in this room, 25% of us would die and 75% of us would do anything for the next pill,” he said. “So, they have created their market by killing off a few but making the rest do absolutely anything for it. We’ve got to shut them down so that our children and our grandchildren have a reason to stay in Oklahoma.”
M. Scott Carter contributed to this report.