Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced that his Organized Crime Task Force, working alongside 27 law enforcement partners nationwide, arrested 20 individuals linked to a "sophisticated" criminal enterprise. He said the Hao Chen Organization was responsible for approximately one million pounds of marijuana worth $1.5 billion in street value.
The investigation, called Operation Blunt Force, targeted an organization led by Hao Tong Chen that ran fraudulent medical marijuana licensing schemes in Oklahoma from approximately 2021 to 2025. Law enforcement executed more than 50 search warrants and recovered 12 firearms during the course of the investigation. Four people were also deported.
The arrests follow a multi-county grand jury indictment from November, charging 19 defendants with 18 felony counts, including racketeering, conspiracy to defraud the state, document fraud, aggravated manufacturing of marijuana and unlawful proceeds.
According to the indictment, Chen orchestrated a fraudulent "straw owner" scheme that unlawfully obtained Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) licenses and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBN) registrations for marijuana growing facilities in violation of Oklahoma's residency requirement. The organization recruited Oklahoma residents as straw owners, paid them to use their identities on fake applications, then illegally manufactured marijuana and diverted it to the black market. The investigation revealed Chen had bank accounts with large cash deposits and regular wire transfers from New York, which were used to pay straw owners and other associates of the conspiracy.
“This operation demonstrates my office's unwavering commitment to protecting the safety of Oklahomans and dismantling sophisticated criminal organizations that exploit our state's medical marijuana system,” said Drummond in a statement. “These defendants allegedly orchestrated a multi-state criminal enterprise that undermined the integrity of our licensing process and violated the trust of Oklahomans. When criminal organizations divert marijuana to the black market, they put our communities at risk and fund further illegal activity. I am grateful to the 27 agencies across the country that worked together to bring these individuals to justice and make Oklahoma safer.”
The investigation revealed that individuals involved in the criminal activity were located in Oklahoma, New York, Texas, Nevada, California, Colorado, Illinois and Washington. Financial transactions connected to the operation flowed to and from Oklahoma from New York, Nevada, Texas, California, New Mexico, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, Washington, Oregon and China.
