Suzie rd, Enid Information & Eagle, Okla.
ENID, Okla. — A crackdown on unlawful marijuana grows in Oklahoma continues.
Mark Woodward, public data officer and laws liaison for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, gave an replace on the scenario throughout a speech in Enid on Monday, June 9, 2025.
“Oklahoma, with its interstate system and location to the border, has made us a prime location for drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering,” Woodward stated throughout an look earlier than Enid Rotary Membership at Stride Financial institution Middle.
He spoke on the challenges authorities are dealing with in combating drug cartels within the state.
OBN is charged with minimizing the abuse of managed substances by means of regulation enforcement measures directed primarily at drug trafficking, illicit drug manufacturing and main suppliers of illicit medication, he stated.
“The marijuana laws in Oklahoma made it too easy for Mexican and Chinese cartels to come here and take advantage of the system,” Woodward stated. “At least 75% of the ownership of a marijuana farm must be held by an Oklahoma resident, but many Chinese businessmen acquired ownership of a licensed grow facility after the initial licensee was charged with creating fraudulent licenses.”
Typically, the preliminary licensee was an lawyer, or somebody related to an lawyer, he stated.
Woodward stated these Chinese language businessmen additionally supplied a lifeline to many rural households who wanted to promote their property they usually gave way more cash than the property was value.
This led to a big lower within the variety of licenses to the present estimate of round, 2100 farms, he stated.
“We are continuing to clean up the mess,” Woodward stated. “Human trafficking and money laundering were a part of this, and we dealt with some of the biggest cartels in Mexico.”
As examples, he stated a horse ranch in Lexington was laundering cash, and medicines have been being picked up at a barn in Thomas.
“These arrests of major players take time,” he stated. “It took us from 1998 to 2012 to arrest 110 people.”
Woodward stated he hopes the variety of marijuana farms within the state is all the way down to about 400 subsequent 12 months and cartel leaders notice Oklahoma shouldn’t be a protected place to be.
Unlawful marijuana isn’t the one unlawful drug inflicting issues.
The present drug giving OBN issues is fentanyl.
“It is dangerous and deadly in extremely small amounts,” Woodward stated. “It is being mixed into everything.”
Woodward has been with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics since July 1995.
