Black Market Marijuana Seized in District 15

By Rep. Tim Turner

Black market marijuana has created a Wild West scenario in Oklahoma.

These are stats given to me by the Haskell County sheriff on seizures within the last six months in Haskell County.

He’s shut down four operations and is working on a fifth one where 55 pounds of illegal marijuana was confiscated from a vehicle leaving the scene.

In the first seizure, which was just south of Whitefield, over 10,000 plants were pulled and destroyed. The sheriff’s department seized $40,000 in U.S. currency.

In the second, 50 pounds of finished product was seized south of town along with some weapons, one of which was illegal. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives got warrants on these weapons and confiscated them. The marijuana was sent to a lab for testing.

The third operation was on Beaver Mountain, where 60 pounds of illegal marijuana was confiscated, as well as two vehicles, one that was used in transporting and was caught over in Arkansas.

The fourth involved a traffic stop that led to the seizure of 47 pounds of illegal marijuana being transported from Texas through Haskell County.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) just this week raided a spot in McIntosh County.

On Monday, July 21, the bureau’s Marijuana Enforcement Teams (MET) served a search warrant at OTOP & OTOC Group, LLC., at 109252 Old Highway 69 in Checotah, as part of an ongoing investigation for operating with an OBN registration obtained by fraud using a ‘straw ownership’ scheme.  OBN MET agents seized 3,761 marijuana plants and 1,183 pounds of processed marijuana, along with hundreds of vapes and other marijuana products.  Arrests are pending as this investigation continues.

Since 2021, OBN MET agents have shut down over 6,000 illegal marijuana farms through enforcement and/or administrative actions for grows tied to black market trafficking and obtaining an OBN registration by fraud using ‘straw ownership’ schemes. At the end of 2022, 8,400 farms were operating with an active OBN registration. Today, that number stands at approximately 2,100.

I want to thank the men and women of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and our law enforcement right here in House District 15 for their continued work across our state and here in our House District to shut down illegal marijuana grow operations. OBN Director Donnie Anderson has made it his mission to ensure Oklahoma is not a top 10 state for black market marijuana, and that mission is making a real impact.

Every time one of these illegal operations is shut down, we take another step toward protecting our communities and controlling black market marijuana sales in Oklahoma. Thank you to these brave agents for their dedication and service.

Oklahoma continues to be the Wild West in black market marijuana for many reasons, but one is out-of-state straw ownerships pushing their product to other states for lucrative income.

We will continue to work to fight to protect our farm land, water resources and the safety of our district.

As always, serving you is a privilege, not a guarantee. I and my family are proud to have this opportunity. If I can help you in my capacity as your representative, please do not hesitate to contact me at the Capitol.  My office phone is (405) 557-7375, and my email is tim.turner@okhouse.gov.

Rep. Tim Turner, a Republican, represents House District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Haskell County and portions of McIntosh, Muskogee, Le Flore and Pittsburg counties.