Operation Blunt Force arrests 20 in fraudulent medical marijuana licensing scheme
On 3 February 2026, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Operation Blunt Force had arrested 20 people, including alleged ringleader Hao Tong Chen, after more than 50 search warrants against a straw-owner medical marijuana network that authorities tied to about one million pounds of black-market marijuana.
🇺🇸 Oklahoma (multi-county) and partner states · Oklahoma, United States
Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Operation Blunt Force had arrested 20 people linked to the
Hao Chen Organization, which allegedly used fraudulent Oklahoma medical marijuana licences to grow
and divert cannabis to the black market from about 2021 to 2025.[1][2]
The Organized Crime Task Force worked with 27 agencies across several states, executing more than
50 search warrants and recovering 12 firearms; four non-citizens were deported during the
investigation.[1][2]A multi-county grand jury had indicted 19 defendants on racketeering, document
fraud, aggravated marijuana manufacturing and related counts.[1][2]
Drummond’s office said the network placed roughly one million pounds of marijuana, valued at about
$1.5 billion on the street, into illicit channels through straw owners paid to front licence
applications.[1][2]Alleged leader Hao Tong Chen was arrested in New York City on 29 January 2026
as part of the same operation, with the DEA, NYPD and Queens district attorney among the partners.[1]
Photos and video
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announces Operation Blunt Force, February 2026.Photo details
CHP's warrant service team searched a home in the 400 block of Bear Canyon Road northwest of Garberville on 9 November 2026 as part of a multi-agency narcotics investigation involving the DEA, HSI and FBI. The CHP said it did not lead the probe and would not confirm the target, the material officers shovelled, or any arrests.
North Port police arrested Nicholas Eddy, 29, and Jessica Trach, 28, after their Special Investigations Unit searched a home on Narcissus Terrace and found marijuana packaged for sale along with cocaine, suspected LSD, steroids and pills. Both were accused of drug possession for sale, running a drug house and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Lexington town police and state and federal partners searched five vape and hemp shops on 5 November 2026 in an undercover investigation into sales of illicit narcotics and drug paraphernalia. A shop owner says officers emptied cases, seized her phone and more than $3,300 in cash, and she plans to sue; no arrests were reported.
Four agencies served simultaneous search warrants at two Quincy addresses on 5 November 2026 in a drug-trafficking investigation, and police announced probable cause to arrest two men, one of them on a cannabis sale allegation. No drug quantities were disclosed and police did not confirm either man was in custody.
