Friday, March 29, 2024

4 Chinese nationals ‘executed’ at pot farm; suspect found in Florida


The suspect in the weekend killings of four people at a marijuana farm in Oklahoma was arrested in the afternoon by officers in South Florida, police introduced late Tuesday.

Wu Chen was taken into custody with out incident simply earlier than 4 p.m. Central time by Miami Beach police and brought to the Miami-Dade County Detention Center, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation stated in a night put up on Facebook.

- Advertisement -

The arrest got here “after a car tag reader flagged vehicle he was driving,” it added. The suspect will likely be charged with homicide and capturing with intent to kill and faces extradition to Oklahoma.

OSBI additionally posted a photograph supplied by U.S. Marshals of the person sitting shoeless on a curb, apparently along with his palms cuffed behind his again.

Authorities stated the victims — three males and one lady, all Chinese residents — have been shot lifeless and “executed” on the 10-acre (4-hectare) property west of Hennessey, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City. A fifth sufferer who can be a Chinese citizen was wounded and brought to an Oklahoma City hospital.

- Advertisement -

The victims had not but been recognized publicly, and next-of-kin notification was nonetheless pending “because of a significant language barrier,” police stated.

Authorities had stated earlier that they had a suspect in thoughts however have been withholding the title in the meanwhile to keep away from endangering others.

“The suspect was inside that building for a significant amount of time before the executions began,” OSBI stated in a news launch earlier Tuesday. “Based on the investigation thus far, this does not appear to be a random incident.”

- Advertisement -

OSBI Capt. Stan Florence stated yesterday that authorities believed the suspect knew the victims, who were found dead Sunday night.

“They all know each other,” Florence stated. “Don’t know if they’re related, or if they’re coworkers, but certainly these individuals were, we believe, all familiar with each other.”

The Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office initially responded to a reported hostage state of affairs at the farm and requested assist from state authorities, Florence stated.

“There’s a lot to unravel with this case,” he added. “It’ll take a little time for us to process it.”

The case is being investigated as a quadruple murder. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control can be investigating.

That company has focused legal rising and trafficking of marijuana for the black market in current years. But company spokesman Mark Woodward stated Tuesday it was too quickly to say that was a spotlight of this investigation.

“It being a marijuana farm, obviously Oklahoma state law requires that they have a license from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and from us,” Woodward stated. “One of the things we’re looking at is, is it obtained legally or was it obtained by fraud? So that’ll be part of our investigation.”

Porsha Riley, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, stated there’s an lively license for a medical marijuana develop enterprise at the situation.

None of the 14 marijuana rising operations in the Hennessey space responded to electronic mail inquiries from The Associated Press, and officers wouldn’t establish which one operated at the location of the shootings.

Oklahoma voters legalized medical marijuana in 2018, and the industry quickly boomed because of (*4*) than in different states.

In March, voters will determine whether or not to legalize recreational use of the drug.

Maryland and Missouri approved recreational marijuana in this month’s midterm elections, bringing the whole quantity states that permit leisure use to 21. Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota voters rejected legalization proposals in the midterms.

___

Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press writers Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, Adam Kealoha Causey in Dallas and Peter Orsi in Denver contributed.

___

Follow AP’s protection of marijuana: https://apnews.com/hub/marijuana



Source link

More articles

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Latest article