The Central Arkansas Drug Task Force seized more than six million grams of marijuana during the first quarter of the year and most of it is coming from Oklahoma, according to CADTF Lt. Johnny Sowell.
“We had a lot of marijuana and meth seizures,” Sowell said. “That’s kind of been the trend in the last three years, the marijuana is on the highway.” He said that a study has shown that 70 million pounds of Oklahoma comes out of Oklahoma every year, and the main states it is being transported to are North Carolina, Georgia (Atlanta), Florida and Tennessee (Memphis).
On March 30, The Oklahoman newspaper reported that Oklahoma’s marijuana underworld is worth more $100 billion. The Southwest Ledger in Lawton, Okla., reported June 2023 that Oklahoma had “32 times more regulated medical cannabis than is necessary to meet the demand of licensed patients.”
The marijuana seized during the January-March quarter was part of $250,391,115.53 in drugs seized by the CADTF. “As you can see by the stats posted today, our combined efforts within the drug task force is continuing to produce results that show our commitment to combating the drugs flowing in and through White County,” White County Sheriff Phillip Miller said.
Those statistics included 17,061 grams of methamphetamine/amphetamine/ice; 6,090,682.4 grams of marijuana; 44,789.6 grams of cocaine; 1 gram of crack cocaine; 675.2 grams of powdered fentanyl; 5,742 counterfeit fentanyl pills; 33.3 grams of mushrooms; .8 grams of gummies, 5.6 grams of THC; 1 can of THC soda; 60 pints of promethazine; and 113 pills.
The CADTF had 97 new cases, with 54 cases cleared by arrest and 43 that were still pending. Seven search warrants were served, and nine weapons, three vehicles and $177,168 in currency were seized.
Sowell said there were no overdoses during the quarter.
The Central Arkansas Drug Task Force has been working tirelessly in their efforts to minimize the amount of narcotics that are coming into our city and communities,” Searcy Assistant Police Chief Maj. Brian Wyatt said. “I think the numbers speak volumes when you look at the stats and see that in the first quarter of 2025, they have already surpassed that dollar amount of narcotics that was confiscated in 2024, and this has been the trend over the past several years.”
{p class=”p1”}He said having no “documented overdoses” during the quarter was “another impressive stat. I strongly believe this is due to the ongoing effort by the CADTF to disrupt the pipeline of fentanyl and other illegal narcotics from being distributed in our area. This continued work by the CADTF while working diligently with other local, state and federal agencies will continue to make our communities a safer place to live, work and thrive.”
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