Two employees of a licensed medical marijuana grow in Oklahoma are facing federal charges for allegedly smuggling in forty pounds of pesticides from China, authorities said.
A grand jury last week indicted Jin Zhao Chi, 44, and Dian Lin Jiang, 65, on misdemeanor charges for allegedly using “unregistered and misbranded pesticides from Hong Kong” at a “state-registered” cannabis cultivation site in Seminole County, according to the U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The charges against the men come amid heightened scrutiny of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry and years of allegations from public officials, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, that the state’s industry is “plagued by foreign criminal interests.”
Oklahoma pesticide charges come amid heightened Chinese cannabis fears
Stitt and others have specifically called out Chinese nationals and the Chinese “Communist Party” for allegedly corrupting Oklahoma’s legal medical cannabis market. According to testimony presented to Congress, alleged organized-crime figures focused on Oklahoma for the same reasons it became attractive to the national cannabis industry: relatively cheap land and labor, coupled with no license or cultivation limits.
“We will not tolerate anyone profiting from polluting our lands and poisoning our citizens with dangerous, illegal Chinese pesticides smuggled into the American Heartland,” Jeffrey Hall, assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a statement.
“These illegal pesticides are often used in sophisticated criminal enterprises like illicit marijuana grows.”
It’s unclear whether the Seminole County grow still has a state permit. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MJBizDaily.
According to authorities, Chi imported the “illegal foreign pesticides” on Feb. 25, 2025, until “on or about” March 19, 2025. According to a recently unsealed indictment, he received about 40 pounds of “unregistered and misbranded pesticides” that were purported to be “plastic cell phone cases, polyvinyl chloride data lines, and stainless steel latch fitments.”
Jiang allegedly participated in the sale and distribution of the pesticides starting April 27, 2022, until May 8, 2023, according to the U.S. attorney.
Both men are apparently still in custody, according to a court docket. Records associated with the enforcement are still sealed.
According to federal authorities, the misdemeanor pesticide charges stemmed from a joint investigation by the U.S. EPA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Investigations.
Are state and federal authorities cracking down on Oklahoma medical marijuana?
Legal cultivators in Oklahoma have claimed that state authorities are wielding a much heavier hand amid an ongoing moratorium on new permits in the state.
Cultivators have claimed that state authorities, encouraged by Stitt, are using bureaucratic tactics, such as denying annual renewals over paperwork snafus, to discourage legitimate operators.
Annual cannabis sales in Oklahoma exceeded $600 million in 2025, a significant drop from the market’s heyday – and one that reflects state officials’ efforts to curtail the industry.
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In federal lawsuits filed against Stitt, OMMA and other authorities last fall, cannabis operators alleged that Oklahoma’s government is “engaged in a scheme and pattern and practice to destroy legally operating businesses.”
A federal judge in April restored the permit of one of dozens of cultivators shut down by the state, which alleged violations of track-and-trace requirements.
