State narcotics agents swept into YE Oriental Green in Sayre on Sunday with a search warrant and walked out with an entire grow operation in tow. At the Beckham County site, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Marijuana Enforcement Teams uprooted 7,286 marijuana plants and seized about 181 pounds of processed marijuana. Investigators also reported finding illegal pesticides on the property. Four people were arrested, and a fifth person was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as agents processed the scene.
OBN spokesman Mark Woodward said the business had been cultivating marijuana without an OBN registration and had "trafficked marijuana to the black market," according to KECO 96.5FM. The KECO report notes that agents located illegal pesticides at the site and that the investigation is still active.
A wider enforcement push
The Sayre raid did not happen in a vacuum. The OBN created full-time Marijuana Enforcement Teams in 2021 to go after unregistered grows and alleged "straw ownership" schemes that can hide who is really running an operation. In its December 2024 marijuana report, the agency documents sharp increases in seizures and interdictions, says MET actions have shut down thousands of grows, and shows that the number of plants seized in investigations jumped dramatically between 2018 and 2023, according to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.
Who joined the raid
OBN said its Marijuana Enforcement Team agents were not working alone in Sayre. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Beckham County Sheriff’s Office, the Beckham County Commissioner's Office, and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture all assisted at the scene. Four people were arrested and one person was taken into ICE custody, and agents said additional arrests are possible as they continue to process evidence, per KECO 96.5FM.
Legal and public-safety concerns
Running a grow without an OBN registration while diverting product to the black market can bring state felony cultivation and trafficking charges. The discovery of banned pesticides can also trigger separate regulatory, environmental, and public-health problems for whoever ends up charged. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics lists a confidential tip line at 800-522-8031 for reporting suspected drug or human-trafficking activity in its publications and public information pages, and the agency's materials include contact details for anonymous tips, according to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.
Local prosecutors will review the evidence from YE Oriental Green and decide what charges to file as the case moves forward. The Sayre operation is the latest in a string of OBN takedowns across Oklahoma, for example agents seized more than 41,000 plants and nearly 700 pounds of processed marijuana in Ottawa County in February, according to Newstalk KZRG, highlighting how aggressively the agency is leaning into marijuana enforcement.
