How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market

After Oklahoma voters approved a ballot measure that legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the state became flooded with out-of-state investors looking to capitalize on the weed boom.

State investigators have found links between foreign mafias and over 3,000 illegal growing operations, known in the industry as “grows.” And they say that more than 80% of the criminal groups are of Chinese origin.

This story of a quadruple murder on a marijuana farm, an investigation by ProPublica and The Frontier, shows how the Chinese underworld has come to dominate the booming illicit trade not only in Oklahoma but across the country.

Read our full investigation at: https://propub.li/4af52QE

–
ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force.

+ Sign up for our weekly newsletter: http://propub.li/2oyN8DY
+ Follow us on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/propublica
+ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/propublica/
+ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@propublica
+ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/propublica
+ Follow us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@propublica
+ Follow us on Mastodon: https://newsie.social/@ProPublica
+ Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/propublica.bsky.social
+ Follow us on Post News: https://post.news/@/propublica