-Photo By K. Mennem - Downtown Oklahoma City
In 2018 the state of Oklahoma passed a groundbreaking medical marijuana bill, loose enough that a recreational bill did not seem needed, despite some attempts at it. In the coming years Oklahoma City had more dispensaries than any large California or Oregon cities. (In 2020 Oklahoma had 2,200 licensed dispensaries vs California’s 600)
In the coming years everything was smooth and everyone was happier (pun intended). But eventually the rural part of the state started hearing and passing stories of “the Chinese are here, buying up all the marijuana property”.
Most people in Oklahoma City and Tulsa (the two large cities in conservative Oklahoma) laughed it off. That was until late 2022 when a Chinese national executed four other Chinese nationals in rural Oklahoma. When he was caught in Florida, he begged not to be sent back to Oklahoma because the Chinese Mafia would kill him there.
So how did all this happen in middle conservative America?
It turns out Oklahoma bit off more than it could chew. With the ease of opening grow houses, cheap farm labor, cheap land, and simply being planted in the middle of the United States, it actually was perfect for organized crime.
Local farmers could not get loans to keep up the grow houses, as banks would not loan for something federally illegal, and the competition was stiff.
Marijuana was cheap to make good stuff but hard to stay open and compete with everyone. Many businesses folded. Then one day groups of well dressed Asian men started offering cash loans to keep the businesses afloat. That's when things got dicey.
The loans turned into takeovers, sometimes with an Oklahoman’s name still on the license but fully operating with foreign employees. The rural lore of Chinese guards with fully automatic weapons ended up having some truth to it.
Oklahoma’s marijuana became one of the best in the world. But Oklahoma, a fairly poor state, couldn't afford to buy it all up. Semi-trucks and fake Amazon vans were shipping loads all over the U.S.
The large farms could process and package a pound of high quality marijuana for as low as $300 and sell it on the East Coast for up to $1200. When you load a semi-trailer full, that is solid profit.
But back in Oklahoma, people still needed money. Farmers, landowners, and homeowners were simply taking the cash from foreigners because they needed it. Chinese women were buying houses in the cities for cash. Chinese men were pumping cash into Oklahoma’s massive casino industry. New Chinese restaurants and stores were popping up. For every complaint about their presence, there was also an Oklahoman who was benefiting financially.
Oklahoma City’s strong Vietnamese population also got pulled into the mix. A group of business minded and multilingual people who had strong roots in the area became powerful brokers between the Chinese and common Okies (Oklahoman’s).
Had Oklahoma, the gun toting- casino gambling- pot smoking (not to mention meth loving) state, become the wild west of the marijuana world?
In early February of 2023, over 800 marijuana farms were shut down in the state with ties to organized crime, according to Donnie Anderson, the director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.
"Many of the farms obtained their license by fraud, grow for the black markets around the United States and launder the illicit proceeds worldwide." "They also have been linked to homicides, labor trafficking, sex trafficking and other crimes”, said Anderson at a press conference.
During the raids multiple Chinese nationals were arrested with cash and weapons. Two women were rescued who are alleged to have been sex trafficked to visit the farms for workers.
Federal and state authorities have kept a watch on ties between the Chinese and Mexican criminal organizations potentially working together in the state, as they do in Mexico and abroad for fentanyl production. (Oklahoma has seen an uptick in fentanyl overdoses, as in most states, as heroin is basically unavailable on the streets and users have switched to the cheaper product)
Oklahoma had successfully taken down a brother of the Zetas cartel, who laundered money with quarter horses and local casinos in 2012. But most other Mexican criminal organizations work in peace or simply stop at the crossroads of Interstate 35 and 40.
-Photo By K. Mennem - Downtown Oklahoma City
In the spring of 2023 the recreational bill for marijuana did not pass, but pot flows so freely in the state it really wasn't needed. The state also made several laws to keep a better eye on the farm licenses and make them harder to obtain.
The raids have continued across “Tokelahoma”, as it is fondly called by many, but there has been little direct violence since the 2022 executions. Keeping a business running is more important than turf wars, and many Okies will always need the money when offered, legal or not. Unfortunately, the state refuses to offer any type of drug education (marijuana to fentanyl) with the tax money it has made from its industry.