Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced his Organized Crime Task Force arrested 20 people and seized thousands of marijuana plants in a $1.5 billion black market marijuana crime ring Tuesday.
The investigation, called Operation Blunt Force, found that leader Hao Tong Chen ran fraudulent medical marijuana licensing schemes in Oklahoma.
According to the indictment, Chen orchestrated a fraudulent “straw owner” scheme that unlawfully obtained Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority licenses and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics registrations for marijuana growing facilities. The organization recruited Oklahoma residents, paid them to use their identities on fake applications, then illegally manufactured marijuana and diverted it to the black market.
The AG says the individuals involved were located in Oklahoma, New York, Texas, Nevada, California, Colorado, Illinois and Washington.
Financial transactions flowed to and from Oklahoma from New York, Nevada, Texas, California, New Mexico, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, Washington, Oregon and China.
