Narcotics bureau probing links between Chinese nationals, black market marijuana

Image
  • black market marijuana
Body

State drug enforcement agents are investigating possible links between Chinese nationals who pay exorbitant prices for land in Oklahoma and then develop marijuana grow operations that funnel large amounts of the drug onto the black market.

“It’s a case-by-case basis, but we’ve had complaints from every corner of the state,” said Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. “We’re going after those who are bypassing Oklahoma laws and moving it (marijuana) on the black market.”

One of the agency’s big- gest busts occurred in Logan County April 23 when 22 people, mostly Chinese nationals, were detained after a two-month investigation by OBN agents. Charges are expected to be filed in Logan County against five of the suspects arrested last month, Woodward said.

In the Logan County case, OBN agents seized 11,000 marijuana plants from two locations. The alleged criminal organization was moving thousands of pounds of marijuana onto the black market under the guise of a licensed medical marijuana farm, Woodward said.

That case led investigators to western Oklahoma in Erick where lawmen confiscated 10,000 marijuana plants and detained seven people on May 4. Those people were tied to the Logan County case, Woodward said. The street value of the marijuana plants seized in the two raids was potentially worth at least $31 million depending on where the drug is sold.

“Now, you can see why this business is so lucrative,” the OBN spokesman said.

OBN officials expect arrests will be made in connection with the Erick bust as investigators interview the seven people who were detained.

“We’ve got some people who are higher up on the organizational chart and we’re investigating who they are,” Woodward said.

Most of the people detained in Erick were employees of the grow operation, the OBN spokesman said.

Meanwhile, investigations into complaints originating from southwestern Oklahoma are underway, but Woodward declined to provide specifics.

NEW LEGISLATION

These types of cases spurred legislation during the 2021 session that requires medical marijuana licensees to attest if any foreign financial interests are involved in the business operation. The proposal, authored by state Rep. Josh West, R-Grove, would require the licensees to disclose the identity of those foreign financial investors to the OBN. The measure was approved by the Senate and returned to the House for further consideration on April 22. No action has been taken since then.

Failure to submit the attestation within the 60-day time period would result in the immediate revocation of the medical marijuana license. The foreign financial interest forms will be available on the OBN website.

By Ledger press time, West could not be reached for comment on his proposal.

In some of OBN’s investigations, agents have discovered some Chinese nationals are paying three times the value of the land where they establish medical marijuana grow operations. However, Woodward is quick to point out those factors alone don’t make them criminals.

“It’s possible some are legal, and some are illegal (operations),” he said.

Illegal activities appear more plausible than legal grow farms, according to a story previously published in Searchlight New Mexico. The story centered on a federal raid of a string of black-market cannabis greenhouses built across 400 acres of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.

That raid, plus allegations of human trafficking and worker exploitation, brought

owners of the New Mexico greenhouses to Oklahoma. Now entrenched into the medical marijuana growing industry, the farms are largely owned and farmed by Chinese nationals.

The Searchlight New Mexico story quoted a Chinese national identified as Irving Lin who claims he is “making a fortune in Oklahoma” because of cheap land, lax enforcement and a miniscule percent tax rate. Woodward confirmed that the land and medical marijuana tax rate is inexpensive compared to other states.

Searchlight New Mexico’s investigation determined that in the weeks since the DEA shut down the 36 Navajo farms, hundreds of marijuana grow workers and managers relocated to Oklahoma.

However, Oklahoma law requires 75% of the grow operation be owned by people who have lived in the state for at least two years, which has left some law enforcement officials believing that the excessive land prices paid by Chinese nationals are off-the-book payments to state landowners who have met the residency requirements and can qualify for the grow license.

“That’s certainly an angle we look at in our investigations,” Woodward said. “Other than that, it’s not something I can comment on right now.”

Some lawmen contend the licensees are not involved with the grow operations, but simply acted as a middleman so the license could be acquired.

Oklahoma has issued 7,635 grow licenses since the medical marijuana laws went into effect, according to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.

The lax enforcement referenced in the Searchlight New Mexico story is being addressed by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority with the recent hiring of 10 new grow inspectors. The authority also plans to hire an extra 10 inspectors in the coming weeks, according to agency spokeswoman Terri Watkins.

“Enforcement exists, but it does not exist to the level we want it,” she said.