Suspected Cartel Involvement in Noble County Illegal Grow Operation

By: Marie Scarci | November 7, 2022

With illegal operations continuing in Oklahoma, state agents have stepped up their efforts. The reason? These grow sites are hurting legitimate businesses that follow the rules and making it difficult for them to compete with black market prices.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has been busy destroying 16,000 marijuana plants recently seized in Noble County. They also found weapons and cash during this raid which is what makes these operations so successful- making it hard for cartels to operate within the state.

"The true cartels are in Mexico, and we can't touch them. But if we can unplug their cell groups in the U.S. and freeze their bank accounts and seize their assets, you can really take their whole cell group. And that can make it very difficult for these cartels to then operate in the city." says Mark Woodward of OBN in a local interview.

Woodward states that OBN is staying busy fighting these illegal operations in hopes that by removing these smaller cells the cartels will have a more difficult time moving drugs and money. Currently, OBN is serving warrants daily on illegal operations, leading to arrests and seizures.

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