The operation was located off 180th Avenue and Blueberry Hill Way, just outside Noble in Cleveland County. Agents carried out the seizure with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.

Mark Woodward, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, said the case fits a pattern the agency has tracked since 2021: cannabis cultivated in Oklahoma and moved out of state for sale on the black market.

"Moving it out of state onto the black market, which is a problem we've had here in Oklahoma going back to 2021," Woodward said.

Cleveland County officials provided land at county facilities for the seized marijuana to be destroyed. Woodward credited county commissioners with making the disposal possible.

"Also providing a site at their county facilities to dig a hole and destroy this seized property. And that's exactly what the county commissioners did for us down in Cleveland County," he said.

Woodward said black-market demand remains strong even though roughly 40 states have some form of legalization, largely because untaxed cannabis is cheaper. Consumers, he said, will buy large quantities — "duffle bags full" — rather than small, taxed amounts from a dispensary, and then resell it.

He said the profit margins drive criminals to take the risk. Cannabis that costs about $100 a pound to grow in Oklahoma can sell for $3,500 to $4,000 a pound by the time it reaches the New York area, according to Woodward.

Woodward also said some black-market product ends up in licensed dispensaries, which can buy it more cheaply because it is untaxed.

"Some of that black market product is going to dispensaries — we know that because they can buy it cheaper, untaxed," he said.

The name of the person arrested has not been released. The investigation is ongoing.