Osage County prosecutor dismisses marijuana-trafficking charges

PAWHUSKA, Okla. (AP) – An Oklahoma prosecutor has dropped marijuana trafficking charges against two men who were arrested transporting a large shipment of industrial hemp that authorities say also included marijuana.

Osage County court records indicate charges were dismissed Tuesday against 30-year-old Andrew Ross and 31-year-old David Dirksen.

The security guards were arrested in January on a truck that was carrying legal hemp in Pawhuska , about 40 miles  northwest of Tulsa. Police thought marijuana was inside despite paperwork saying the truck was carrying industrial hemp.

Tests later determine that about 4,000 pounds of the 18,000-pound load was marijuana, but prosecutors say they believe the security guards were “duped” into transporting it.

A medical-grade hemp company in Colorado had ordered the hemp from Kentucky and it was being shipped to Colorado via Oklahoma.