Agents Raid Large Marijuana Growing Operation In Ada

One of the largest cultivated marijuana growing operations in Oklahoma's history is shut down.

Law enforcement agents raided the marijuana growing operation in a remote area about 15 miles north of Ada Monday morning. Agents with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN), Chickasaw Nation Light Horse Police Department and the District 22 Drug Task Force seized and destroyed approximately 6,000 high-quality marijuana plants during the raid. The plant have an estimated street value of $9 million dollars.

"Two weeks ago, OBN received information about a possible large marijuana growing operation in the area," said Mark Woodward, OBN Spokesman. "After following up on the information, we identified approximately 6 different patches, each containing several hundred plants within a few hundred feet of each other."

Woodward says no arrests have been made, but evidence was seized this Monday morning from three different camp sites near the patches. The evidence will be used to identify those responsible for the marijuana growing operation.

"Evidence found in the marijuana patch, including an identification card, would indicate we are looking for possibly five Hispanic males who are not from this area," Woodward said. "They likely scattered when Agents made entry into the marijuana fields."

In the past three years, Woodward said OBN has seized several similar growing operations around Oklahoma headed by Mexican cartels. While OBN can't confirm any ties to the drug cartels at this point, Woodward said this large operation near Ada has many similarities to cartel patches they've seized in the past.