Osage County prosecutor dismisses marijuana-trafficking charges
The Associated Press - August 7, 2019 11:20 am
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.