TULSA (KTUL) — The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has been invited to testify before a Homeland Security subcommittee on Sept. 18. The hearing will focus on the presence of Chinese nationals in Oklahoma marijuana grows and the security threat they may pose.
OBN says organized crime from 12 countries has infiltrated Oklahoma’s marijuana business.
Most illegal operations, about 70 to 80 percent, have ties to Asian nationals, primarily those from China.
“There’s been 45 foreign nationals that ICE has come with us in our operations and they’ve arrested 45 foreign nationals on immigration violations just in our marijuana growths,” said Brian Surber, deputy director of OBN.
Surber says fraud and straw ownership have allowed foreign nationals to get around laws that require grow owners to be Oklahoma residents.
At the peak of the marijuana industry in 2022, Oklahoma had about 8,400 marijuana farms, more than three times the number of retail dispensaries. Today, that number is just over 2,000 through the efforts of OBN.
“You have to have dumptrailers and skidsteers to load your evidence. And that’s what we have right now because of the vast amount of production that we have. These are several-acre farms with dozens of grow houses,” Surber said.
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) found the state produces 64 times the amount consumed by patients, a surplus Surber says fuels the black market.
“If we produce 64 times what’s been consumed at the legal level, that should kinda be somewhat of an indication as to the breadth of illegal black-market marijuana we have in Oklahoma. A large portion which has been taken by foreign influences.”
Since July 1, 2021, OBN has seized 1.8 million marijuana plants and more than 200,000 pounds of processed marijuana, all illegal.
“Two hundred thousand pounds of marijuana and 1.8 million plants, that’s what we’ve seized. We haven’t been to all the grows, that’s just what we’ve seized at our agency,” Surber said. “Every two Oklahomans; we have a plant we’ve seized for every two Oklahomans that involves an illegal grow.”
As OBN continues its crackdown, officials say one of their biggest challenges is language.
Right now, the agency only has one agent and one civilian who speak Mandarin, leaving a critical shortage for investigations and wiretaps on foreign operated grows.
