Darlene Mayes, 73-Year-Old, Sold Pot And Had Illegal Guns In Oklahoma, Cops Say

GANJA GRANNY: Darlene Mayes allegedly ran a drug ring stretching from Tulsa, Okla. to Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas.

This granny's ganja wasn't for glaucoma -- turns out she might have been the biggest pot dealer in town.

When cops kicked down the door of an elderly woman's Oklahoma home on Monday, they said they knew they'd find some marijuana. What they didn't expect was that 73-year-old Darlene Mayes was packing 4 pounds of pot, $276,000 in cash, a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver, The Daily reported.

Investigators had been following Mayes' alleged drug ring for years, but they didn't know she was the kingpin until Monday, KJRH-TV reported. They believe she supplied about 40 percent of the marijuana circulating in the vicinity, which includes Tulsa and parts of Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri.

"That was quite a surprise," Vinita Police Chief Bobby Floyd told The Daily, an iPad-only news site. "She is in very good shape for her age."

Cops alleged that Mayes had plenty of dealers working for her -- including her son Jerry, who was arrested Monday, accused of carrying thousands of dollars in cash and nearly 2 pounds of pot that he intended to sell.

In Mayes' house, cops found the supply in her bedroom, which reeked of weed. A vacuum-sealed bag full of the stuff was found in the closet, and bundles of bills labeled "$15,000" were found under her box spring. They found a pipe and another bag of weed in the bathroom, and a total of $200,000 in more vacuum-sealed bags in a guest room where Mayes' grandchildren reportedly slept.

Mayes allegedly first told officers that the money was for her retirement fund.

"She knew exactly what she was doing and supplying and exactly who she’s profiting from," Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, told The Daily.

The granny was charged with marijuana possession with intent to distribute, maintaining a dwelling where drugs are kept or sold, and firearm possession in commission of a felony.

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Comments

[Jt Jones]

04:14 PM on 05/19/2013

Just saw where this case was dismissed by the court, good job attorneys and judge!

[Papers Please]

08:09 AM on 05/11/2012

“I had learned not to care. I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though. …”

— Barack Obama

[Sarat Borat]

01:16 PM on 04/29/2012

You cant stop drugs' drugs rule, President Nixon start the war on drugs not as a way to stop it but as a way to win election and that take drugs to the next level, now every House Member and local official does the same in time for their next election, why would anyone want to cut off their cash flow, that drugs is going right back into operation for the next sting, Cops sell drugs they call it undercover' they sell drugs sometime for more than four years before they make their big raid, this is all nothing but a revolving situation and you may wanna tune it down before they plant some drugs in your home or car.

[IDIOTA]

05:36 PM on 04/24/2012

Luckily, she did not suffer this fate:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/29/killed_at_home_white_plains_ny

[IDIOTA]

05:32 PM on 04/24/2012

This is what happens when you don't get equal pay for equal work

[Stephen Holland]

02:48 AM on 04/21/2012

As she dies in prison i wonder who will spend her money that was taken.It would be just as impossible for the police to prove that to all be drug money as it would be for her to prove it to be her hard earned life savings.So why should the prejudgment of guilt over rule the benefit of a doubt.If the life of a poor withering soul shall be crushed over something so harmless that should be legal anyway well then just take the money and leave the poor lady alone.The officer himself said that it reminded him of his own grandmother but the one true differences is that if it was his grandmother she would surely not be going to jail.

[Stephen Holland]

02:23 AM on 04/21/2012

Very good job guys,,the safest most none violent weed dealer in the world will be safely locked away for the rest of her living days.We should all be so proud.

[a okafor007]

02:15 PM on 04/21/2012

she had illegal guns. I doubt the "safest" part

[Lynn Mommajuggalo Dunn]

08:06 AM on 04/26/2012

Really, Dude? She had a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver...not an AK-47 or a chopper...the reason that they were considered illegal was because they charged her with a felony because of the amount of marijuana in the house...which, by the way, should not be illegal anyway!

[daysofapril]

11:35 PM on 04/20/2012

Wow...did they really have to kick down her door? For pot???? Sheesh. Thank you, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, for providing yet another example of why marijuana should be legalized/decriminalized: no more wasted tax dollars busting down the doors of old ladies.

[jason91789]

10:47 PM on 04/20/2012

For Christ sake, it's not meth, it was just pot! I say let her go along with her money and let her live out the those of those golden ages as a free and happy woman. There are way more horrible things to worry about that the tax payers could have spent their money on rather than funding an investigation of an old lady and her green nest egg. Team Grammy Gram all the way!

[jason91789]

10:42 PM on 04/20/2012

It's not meth, it's just pot. let her go and retire with her money and live out the rest of her golden years. Team grammy!

[a okafor007]

09:49 PM on 04/20/2012

I wonder if the weed "kingpin" was named, Trayvon, for example. Would Huffposters say "Let Him go" then??? I DOUBT IT....

[Jerry Equality Gannon]

11:12 PM on 04/20/2012

Racist much?
People are realizing more and more that "weed" prohibition is doing much more harm than good in this country (as well as Mexico) and aren't as interested in wasting resources on it as they once were.
I also think that if, for example, "Trayvon" was a 73 year old woman of ANY ethnicity, people would appreciate that even 5-10 years could be a LIFE sentence for a non-violent act already legalized to some extent in 16 states in this country.

Check that against YOUR racism, and get back to me. Thanks.

[a okafor007]

11:47 AM on 04/21/2012

Ummm How am I a racist when I point out the different reactions to black drug dealers and white ones? So pointing out racism is NOW racism? You're a fool

[a okafor007]

11:48 AM on 04/21/2012

I know what weed legalization will do. I'm just saying of all of the drug dealing stories, this is the ONLY one i've seen people say "let her go" B.S. She should do the time like all other drug dealers

[tedpikul]

09:37 PM on 04/20/2012

Perhaps now, the nation can awaken from its collective nightmare, and begin to recover.

[Creekndneyes]

08:26 PM on 04/20/2012

what a joke. Stay away from small town oklahoma!

[Justin Seybert]

06:16 PM on 04/20/2012

Pfft. Absolute waste of taxpayer dollars pursuing this stuff.

[JACD]

05:17 PM on 04/20/2012

Lessee... Granny was arrested Monday. Today is Friday. She's been replaced already. Zero impact.

[tedpikul]

09:38 PM on 04/20/2012

False. New guy's stuff is schwag.