Wednesday, April 24th 2024, 10:41 pm
A traffic stop helped Oklahoma investigators track down an illegal marijuana farm.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics linked a fake Amazon van in Missouri to Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Capitol provides a space for change to take place on the law books. Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Spokesperson Mark Woodward spent his time at the Capitol on Tuesday advocating for legislation to combat illegal marijuana operations.
“Oklahoma was kinda seen as the wild west of weed,” said Woodward, talking about how legislative efforts have improved illegal drug enforcement in the state. “There’s a lot of people that are being impacted by this.”
While Woodward works to improve those efforts, Missouri State police stopped a van from Oklahoma that committed several traffic violations, according to OBN. The van had a counterfeit Amazon logo and carried 246 pounds of marijuana.
“This is becoming more and more of a common practice,” Woodward said.
The van provided a window for OBN agents to discover the source of the real problem.
“We were able to investigate it back to this Bright Stones LLC down in Lindsay Oklahoma,” Woodward said. “Got just over nine-thousand cultivated plants and about two hundred and fifteen pounds of processed marijuana.”
Woodward said the name listed on this property's paperwork was paid to put his name on the license. It hides the real owner’s identity – giving them the name “ghost owners.”
“We haven’t made an arrest, but we know who this individual is,” Woodward said
Woodward said the efforts of lawmakers have allowed his office to shut down 6,000 illegal marijuana farms in two years.
“They understand the magnitude of our problem and working very closely with us to address these issues,” Woodward said.
According to OBN the suspect connected to this Lindsay farm has ties to at least three farms the bureau has shut down.
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