State agents say a Nowata grow operation that looked like a medical-marijuana business was really a black-market pipeline. When the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics' Marijuana Enforcement Team hit Anima Growing on June 10 with a search warrant, they pulled roughly 49,257 marijuana plants and tore out the indoor cultivation infrastructure. Seven people tied to the site were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
KOKH/OKCFOX reports that agents served the warrant at Anima Growing in Nowata and counted 49,257 plants in the bust. The station shared agency photos that show long rows of plants and industrial-scale grow equipment, and noted that seven individuals were handed over to ICE as investigators sort through what was happening at the site.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has cast the Nowata seizure as one more hit in a statewide crackdown. According to public updates from the bureau, its Marijuana Enforcement Teams have removed more than 2.4 million illegal marijuana plants from circulation since 2021. In posts on OBN channels, officials have used that tally to underscore what they describe as widespread fraud and illicit distribution tied to some licensed grows. The agency says it created the MET units in 2021 to go after organized groups that exploit Oklahoma's medical-marijuana framework.
How Authorities Say The Scheme Worked
Investigators say the Nowata grow fit a pattern they know all too well. According to OBN, the operation secured an agency registration through a "straw ownership" setup, where listed owners appear on paper while outside interests actually control production and distribution. The bureau has flagged that playbook in numerous cases involving allegedly fraudulent grow registrations. OBN's December 2024 report outlines how common those questionable registrations have become and details the risks posed by unregulated grow sites.
Part Of A Broader Enforcement Push
The Nowata raid did not happen in a vacuum. It followed a June 2 operation in Atoka where agents seized more than 6,000 plants, as reported by KXII, and an April raid in Wynnewood that turned up nearly 9,000 plants, also covered by KXII. OBN says those kinds of enforcement rounds have led to hundreds of arrests and the shutdown of thousands of illegal marijuana grows across Oklahoma.
OBN is asking anyone who might have information about suspected criminal drug activity or possible human trafficking to call its tip line at 800-522-8031. That contact information appears in local coverage of the Nowata raid, including the report from KOKH/OKCFOX. The investigation into Anima Growing remains open, and authorities say additional arrests or federal action could follow as they work through records and other evidence.
