LOCUST GROVE, Okla. — The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority say fewer marijuana growers want to do business in Oklahoma now that agencies are cracking down on illegal operations.
2 News has reported about the work the Oklahoma Attorney General's Crime Task Force is doing to shut down illegal grows. Still, it's proving to be a statewide effort that's working.
OBN agents seized a 14-building compound on Tuesday in Locust Grove. The buildings were used to either store weed to be shipped out later or grow it. They told 2 News the leading player in the investigation has been arrested.
2 News saw an employee at the now-seized black market marijuana facility climb the fence on Wednesday to get her last paycheck.
Kelly Mishler said she used to live next to it.
"I'm all for medical marijuana," Mishler said. "I'm not for people coming in here from other countries (and operating illegally grows), and there are a lot of them."
OBN says it took about a year for agents to investigate the location. They say the buildings held several thousand pounds of illegal marijuana, and it was transhipped from Oklahoma farms to black markets across the state.
OBN director Donnie Anderson says agents have linked marijuana farms to transnational criminal groups from Mexico, China, Armenia, Russia, and others. In many cases, they've uncovered evidence of labor and sex trafficking, homicides, and money laundering.
OBN says illegal growers are using straw owners. It's where someone owns a piece of land and deals with a grower to get a license to operate illegally.
White storage bags, cut electrical wires, grow lamps, and many ventilation items could be seen on the property. There was even a hole in an outside fence big enough for a human to crawl through to get inside.
OBN says grower registrations have dropped from 9,400 in 2021 to 6,400 in 2022, and today, they're at 3,200.
OBN, along with OMMA, says the registration and background process to operate a marijuana grow farm in Oklahoma has become a lot more rigorous, too.
OBN agents have shut down more than 1,000 illegal marijuana farms and over 200 arrests since 2021.
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