Pre-preliminary hearings have been continued for two men from Okmulgee arrested by Lincoln County deputies and charged with cultivating a Controlled Dangerous Substance after 386 marijuana clone plants were seized.
Quing Li Zheng, 55, and Wei Goa, 41, were each charged Nov. 23 in Lincoln County District Court with endeavoring to cultivate CDS.
Bond for each of the defendants was set at $20,000.
They made their initial appearance on Dec. 1 before Special Judge Emily Mueller. She scheduled their prepreliminary hearings for Jan. 19, 2023.
On that date, Judge Mueller set the matter for March 16.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Brewer, in a probable cause affidavit, states that at around 3 p.m. on Nov. 15 he was conducting drug enforcement surveillance in the area of East Highway U.S. 62 just west of the town of the Meeker.
He says in the affidavit that he observed a van occupied by two males enter a marijuana grow facility at 339452 E. Highway 62 and ran the tag number through dispatch. He was advised the van was registered to Quing Li Zheng with an address in Okmulgee.
Brewer states he continued surveillance for about 45 minutes when he observed the same van exit the marijuana grow facility and head eastbound on U.S. 62. He proceeded to follow the van and said as it approached the Meeker Town Limits he noticed the vehicle moved to the right of the marked roadway, crossing over the white line, a traffic infraction of failure to maintain lane.
The captain said he observed the van stop at the stop sign at U.S. 62 and SH 18 in Meeker, turned right, and head south. He activated his emergency lights to make a traffic stop and the van pulled over and stopped in the parking lot of a store in Meeker.
Brewer stated that when he approached the driver door of the vehicle, and the driver lowered the window, he could smell a strong odor coming from inside the vehicle that was green marijuana.
He reported the driver didn’t speak English so he contacted an agent with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics who knew the language. He used his speaker phone so the OBN agent could interpret.
The driver of the van told Brewer and the agent he was transporting marijuana clone plants and didn’t have a license to transport them.
With probable cause established, the sheriff’s captain detained Zheng and his passenger Wei Goa. Brewer conducted a search of the vehicle, he said, and discovered seven containers in which there were small marijuana plants commonly known as clones.
The plants were seized and after counting it was later determined there were 386 marijuana plant clones.
Brewer placed the two men under arrest and requested that Deputy Jimmy Brown take Zheng and Goa to the Lincoln County Jail.
He reported that Zheng had $1,200 in American currency in his possession which he later placed into evidence pending asset forfeiture.