Foreign Organized Crime Fuels Oklahoma‘s Illegal Marijuana Market, OBN Testifies
Tulsa (Ktul) – The oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) is set to address a Homeland Security subcommittee on September 18th, focusing on the growing presence of foreign nationals in Oklahoma’s marijuana grows and the potential security risks they pose. The agency reports that organized crime groups from twelve different countries have infiltrated the state’s marijuana industry.
According to OBN deputy Director Brian Surber, approximately 70 to 80 percent of illegal marijuana operations in Oklahoma have ties to Asian nationals, with a significant majority originating from China. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has assisted OBN in operations,resulting in the arrest of 45 foreign nationals on immigration violations directly related to illegal marijuana cultivation.
Surber explained that foreign nationals are circumventing Oklahoma laws requiring grow owners to be residents through fraudulent practices and the use of “straw owners.” These arrangements involve listing Oklahoma residents on ownership paperwork while foreign nationals maintain actual control of the operations.
The scale of the problem was notably acute in 2022, when Oklahoma boasted approximately 8,400 marijuana farms – more than three times the number of licensed dispensaries. Through OBN’s enforcement efforts, that number has been reduced to just over 2,000.
“You have to have dumptrailers and skidsteers to load your evidence,” Surber stated, highlighting the sheer volume of seized materials. “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.”
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) data reveals the state produces 64 times the amount of marijuana consumed by registered patients, a surplus Surber attributes to a thriving 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 over 200,000 pounds of processed marijuana. Surber emphasized this represents only a portion of the illegal activity, stating, “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. Every two oklahomans; we have a plant we’ve seized for every two Oklahomans that involves an illegal grow.”
A significant obstacle to investigations is a critical shortage of language skills within the OBN. Currently, the agency has only one agent and one civilian proficient in Mandarin, hindering investigations and the ability to conduct effective wiretaps on foreign-operated grows.