Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents served a search warrant at 1420 Smokey Ridge Road in Ardmore on Tuesday 23 July 2024.[1] Agents seized 106,062 marijuana plants and 1,120 pounds of processed marijuana, about 508 kg.[1] Wen Bin Huang, 34, and Wen Zhao Huang, 37, were arrested and faced charges including aggravated trafficking of marijuana and aggravated cultivation of a controlled dangerous substance.[2]

The raid was not the first on Smokey Ridge Road; the bureau said it had already served a warrant, arrested people and seized plants there in a previous investigation.[2] Bureau spokesman Mark Woodward said a newly activated licence for the property brought it back onto the bureau’s radar, that the operators were tied to the group arrested before, and that this was part of a shell game in which another group takes over after a bust.[2] The bureau’s investigation into the grow began in November 2023.[3] KTEN put the weight of marijuana seized at 1,100 pounds; the bureau’s release and KOKH reported 1,120 pounds, the figure used here.[2]

Woodward said agents found buyers taking more than 50 pounds of marijuana from the farm per visit and operators loading as much as 1,000 pounds at a time into refrigerated semi-trucks bound for black markets in New York City, Chicago and parts of Florida.[3] Carter County Sheriff Chris Bryant said Ardmore sits halfway between Dallas and Oklahoma City and can serve as a meet-up point for illegal drug movements out of the county.[2]