After 4 'Executions' on Pot Farm, an Arrest

Police in Oklahoma say victims were Chinese citizens
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 22, 2022 11:30 PM CST
Suspect Caught in Pot Farm Murders: 'A Lot to Unravel'
Capt. Stan Florence, Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, gives a press briefing outside a residence near Lacey, Okla., in Kingfisher County.   (Billy Hefton/The Enid News & Eagle via AP)

Police say the suspect in the killings of four people at a marijuana farm in Oklahoma has been arrested in South Florida. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday evening in a post on Facebook that Wu Chen was taken into custody without incident in the afternoon by officers with the Miami Beach Police Department, per the AP. It added that the arrest came "after a car tag reader flagged the vehicle [Chen] was driving," and that he was taken to the Miami-Dade County Detention Center. Chen will be charged with murder and shooting with intent to kill and faces extradition to Oklahoma, police said.

Authorities said the three men and one woman, who were Chinese citizens, were "executed" on the 10-acre property near Hennessey, about 55 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. A fifth victim who is also a Chinese citizen was wounded and taken to an Oklahoma City hospital. OSBI Capt. Stan Florence has said that authorities believe the suspect knew the victims, who were found dead Sunday night. "Don't know if they're related, or if they're coworkers, but certainly these individuals were, we believe, all familiar with each other," Florence said.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control is also investigating the deaths. The agency has targeted criminal growing and trafficking of marijuana for the black market in recent years. But agency spokesman Mark Woodward said Tuesday it was too soon to say that was a focus 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 said. "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." Said Florence: "There’s a lot to unravel with this case."

(More Oklahoma stories.)

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