What is usually a sleepy stretch of countryside west of Inola turned into a full-blown crime scene Tuesday, as Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents and Rogers County deputies hit a licensed marijuana grow with a search warrant and rolled out with what officials say was a massive load of pot and THC products. Neighbors said it was the heaviest police presence they had ever seen in the area, watching as crews hauled away product and equipment. Authorities say the raid targeted suspected black-market distribution and hinted that this might just be the opening move.
According to KJRH, agents at the licensed facility seized nearly 6,000 marijuana plants, about 7,000 pounds of processed marijuana and more than 400 pounds of edible products. The outlet reports that the operation brought together the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators had not publicly identified any suspects connected to the grow as of the initial search.
“The marijuana that’s grown here, and the products sold here are being trafficked onto the black market, rather than legitimately being sold,” OBN spokesperson Mark Woodward told KJRH. Woodward said agents believe product from the site was being moved off the property for illegal sales and noted that OBN has shut down thousands of illicit grows in recent years. He said no one was arrested at the scene but that arrests are expected in the coming days.
How this fits into a statewide crackdown
The Inola raid is the latest chapter in a broad, multi-agency push against illegal cultivation and trafficking across Oklahoma. Earlier this month, Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Organized Crime Task Force outlined a multi-state investigation that recovered roughly one million pounds of marijuana and led to indictments and arrests, according to an Oklahoma Attorney General news release. State marijuana-enforcement teams have also been busy with regional operations; in one example this month, investigators seized more than 5,300 plants during a Devol search, per KSWO…