OBN this week raided an Oklahoma City warehouse being used as a distribution hub for a criminal organization trafficking millions of dollars in marijuana from Oklahoma farms to the out-of-state black market.
OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward said this is one of several recent operations targeting the pipeline of illegal marijuana leaving the state.
“These criminal organizations arrange for loads of marijuana to be transported off farms across the state to warehouses in places like Oklahoma City. The marijuana is then repacked into boxes disguised as legitimate products and hauled in semi-trucks to their associates located across the United States.” Woodward said.
In addition to raiding the Oklahoma City warehouse this week, Woodward says OBN agents simultaneously stopped a semi-truck leaving the location transporting nearly 7,000 pounds of marijuana in vegetables boxes bound for New York.
Woodward said the potential street value of this shipment was nearly $28 million dollars. As part of an investigation in April, OBN raided a different Oklahoma City warehouse and intercepted a semi-truck hauling 7,000 pounds of marijuana hidden in camera equipment boxes destined for New Jersey and New York.
“My agency is committed to targeting and dismantling these international trafficking organizations that are embedded in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program. Not only are they responsible for black market marijuana trafficking but have been linked to numerous other crimes including homicides, human trafficking, sex trafficking, and world-wide money laundering” OBN Director Donnie Anderson said.
Woodward noted this is still an active investigation, so no additional details are being released at this time. Several additional investigations into these Oklahoma transshipment locations are ongoing, according to Woodward. Anyone with information about illegal drug activity can anonymously report it to OBN via Facebook DM.