Photo: Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control agents raided an Oklahoma City warehouse being used as a distribution hub for a criminal organization trafficking millions of dollars in marijuana from Oklahoma farms to the out-of-state black market. OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward says this is one of several recent operations targeting the pipeline of illegal marijuana leaving the state.
“These criminal organizations arrange for loads of marijuana to be transported off farms across the state to warehouses in places like Oklahoma City," said OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward. "The marijuana is then repacked into boxes disguised as legitimate products and hauled in semi-trucks to their associates located across the United States.”
In addition to raiding the Oklahoma City warehouse this week, Woodward says OBN Agents simultaneously stopped a semi-truck leaving the location transporting nearly 7,000 pounds of marijuana in vegetables boxes bound for New York. Woodward says the potential street value of this shipment was nearly $28 million dollars. As part of an investigation in April, OBN 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.
“My agency is committed to targeting and dismantling these international trafficking organizations that are embedded in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program," said OBN Director Donnie Anderson. "Not only are they responsible for black market marijuana trafficking but have been linked to numerous other crimes including homicides, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and world-wide money laundering.”
Woodward says this is still an active investigation, so no additional details are being released at this time.