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SEMINOLE COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Guns, patches from state agencies, false warrants and even a Halloween mask – authorities are warning of a group of frauds trying to rob Oklahoma marijuana growers.

This is an investigation now involving multiple agencies, including local sheriff’s offices, Oklahoma Highway Patrol and even the ATF.

We’re told at least two incidents occurred in Seminole and Hughes Counties over the last couple of days, and authorities believe the same individuals are to blame.

“She called me, texted me,” said Oklahoma City Attorney Donald Gies. “She said, ‘I’m getting raided – please help.'”

Gies got that cry for help from one of his clients, a marijuana grower in Seminole County, on Monday.
His client told him a group of men claiming to be narcotics agents and troopers presented fake badges and very real guns.

“One of them actually had a Darth Maul mask, which is pretty horrifying,” Gies said.

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A partial image of a suspect pretending to be a state agent.

The fake agents also brought a fake warrant with several misspellings.

Gies said he assured his client she had the proper paperwork, and when she showed it, they backed off.

“After they left my client, they actually hit a neighbor about five miles west of them and apprehended those farm owners as well,” Gies said. “So they were on a bit of a tirade.”

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office tells KFOR they worked two different cases Monday afternoon.
In one of those cases, five people were forced into a shed at gunpoint, their phones taken as they were locked inside.

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Medical marijuana from the scene.

According to Seminole County and state drug agents, this is not an isolated incident – a similar story played out in nearby Hughes County last Friday.

“They do believe that these are the same group,” said Mark Woodward with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

In the case of Gies’s client, he said one dead giveaway that these were fraudsters were claiming to be with “The Oklahoma Marijuana Board.”

But Oklahoma’s regulating agency is the “Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.”

“We would just encourage people to be very vigilant about anybody that shows up unannounced, and you’re suspicious because they give you a name of a department you’re not familiar with,” Woodward said.

The OBN spokesperson says if you’re suspicious of anyone who approaches you in this manner, never hesitate to give the bureau a call.