Oklahoma’s top cop just took another big swing at the state’s illicit marijuana trade, with agents uprooting nearly 59,000 plants and hauling away about 1,350 pounds of processed cannabis from two illegal grow operations and two processing facilities near Tulsa on Wednesday. Multiple people were arrested, and state officials say immigration authorities detained several undocumented workers found on the properties. Investigators allege the targeted businesses were operating outside state law and pumping product into the black market, and Attorney General Gentner Drummond cast the raids as part of a long-term push to dismantle trafficking networks exploiting Oklahoma’s medical marijuana system.
According to KOKH, agents hit KMA 2021 and Wanna-Dab Labs in Tulsa, along with Danky McNuggy Medical Group locations in Claremore and Tulsa. The station reports that investigators seized 58,920 marijuana plants in total, along with roughly 1,350 pounds of processed product, turning what looked like thriving grows into bare dirt in a single operation.
KRMG reports that nine people taken into custody at the sites were identified as undocumented immigrants, and federal immigration officials are expected to pursue deportation. "We are making communities across the state safer each time we shut down an illegal marijuana grow operation," Drummond said in a statement to the station, arguing that these kinds of busts cut off supply to unlicensed markets.
Among those arrested were Qiu Cheng Chen, known as Sam Chen, and his wife, Xiufeng Lin, known as Linda Lin, who were booked on complaints including conspiracy to defraud the state, conspiracy to manufacture a controlled dangerous substance, and aggravated manufacturing of a controlled dangerous substance, KOKH reports. Authorities allege that Chen and Lin relied on straw-owner arrangements to register and operate multiple medical marijuana businesses in Tulsa and Rogers counties, effectively hiding who was really running the show.
How This Fits A Larger Crackdown
The latest sweep is part of a pattern. The Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force has been stacking up large seizures, including a June 2025 operation that netted more than 40,000 plants and over 1,000 pounds of processed marijuana, according to a press release from the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office. State officials have repeatedly pointed to straw-ownership setups, out-of-state investors, and foreign criminal groups as key drivers of a thriving black market operating alongside the licensed medical program.
Legal Implications
The arrests carry potential felony charges that could bring serious prison time and steep fines under Oklahoma law, with local prosecutors responsible for filing formal counts as the investigation develops, KRMG reports. Everyone arrested is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court, and the Attorney General’s Office says the probe is ongoing as agents work to untangle ownership structures and distribution chains tied to the raided sites.
Investigators say the broader operation is still active and that more arrests or civil enforcement actions could follow as they track where the money and the marijuana were headed. State officials have not offered a timeline for when criminal cases might land in court, while federal immigration authorities will handle any deportation proceedings for those held by ICE.
