Oklahoma’s marijuana murders: killings of Chinese workers reflect an illegal industry out of control
- State officials identify marijuana farms illegally run by out-of-state and foreign entities as a growing threat, and say a rising number of Chinese nationals operate them
- Asian-American community leaders say many young, desperate Chinese in cities like New York are lured to Oklahoma by the promise of quick money
The sun had already set on November 20 when Wu Chen, a 45-year-old Chinese national, allegedly entered a marijuana farm near Hennessey, Oklahoma, a rural town of about 3,000 residents.
Police would later say Wu spent hours on the 10-acre (4-hectare) compound, eventually killing three men and one woman, all Chinese nationals too, in what investigators described as “mafia-style executions”. Another man was seriously injured.
Court documents identify the dead as Quirong Lin, Chen He Chun, Chen He Qiang and Fang Hui Lee, and the injured as Yi Fei Lin – all suspected to have illegally entered the US.
The killings were grisly confirmation, Oklahoma officials say, of a growing threat in the state: marijuana farms illegally run by out-of-state and foreign entities that manage to circumvent state and federal law.
Moreover, the state’s narcotics agency says it is seeing a rising number of Chinese nationals owning and operating these facilities.
And while the gruesome slayings have shaken Asian-Americans across the country, community leaders say many young and desperate Chinese in cities like New York are lured to Oklahoma by the promise of quick money.
