Reefer Brief, Oklahoma Edition
Nolan Clay writing in this week’s Oklahoman newspaper provides some interesting details. A prosecution witness testified that he was hired to drive a counterfeit Amazon truck from twenty different Oklahoma pot farms for shipment out of state. He was paid $15 per pound. He managed to load 150-200 pounds of marijuana into the truck each trip, so that amounts to up to $3000 per trip, and he took 10-15 such trips. The witness brought the marijuana back to his business’s warehouse where it was packed into a semi for out-of-state shipment. That is where the bust took place. The witness pled guilty and then gave testimony against other members of the conspiracy. A later raid yielded nearly 20,000 plants and $100,000 in vacuum-sealed cash (just like in the movies!).
The big fish in this sting were not all that big. The alleged manager of the operation was paid $3000-$4000 a month. His “intern” was paid $2500/month. They face imprisonment of ten years to life. The street value of the marijuana seized (it’s not clear from the story whether this is the 20,000 plants of the contents being loaded onto the semi) is estimated at $6 million. Seems like the bigger fish are still swimming. The witness had only a last name to offer. The government is seeking to seize the farms involved in the conspiracy.
I am reminded of the chapter in Freakanomics about why drug dealers live with their mothers. The salaries of these relatively low-level employees in a drug-peddling operation were only enough to constitute a profitable side-gig. Even the “manager” makes less than $50,000/year in exchange for the risk of an extended stay in prison and other risks associated with criminal activities. Once again, I’m glad I decided to become a law professor rather than trying to claw my way to the top and become a drug kingpin.