Oklahoma
Chinese migrants lured to Oklahoma are labour, sex trafficking victims: official
Undocumented Chinese nationals recruited on international websites to cross into the United States are becoming victims of labour and sex trafficking, often on illicit marijuana farms run by Mexican and Chinese syndicates in Oklahoma, the state’s top law enforcement official said on Wednesday.
“These ads, in Mandarin, are thinly veiled offerings to engage in criminal activity,” Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma’s attorney general, said in testimony before the US House Homeland Security Committee in Washington.
One such advertisement “offers jobs for a ‘massage spa’ to people who are ‘able to endure hardships’ and who have ‘good hygiene’,” he said.
Drummond was participating in the Republican-led panel’s first impeachment hearing for President Joe Biden’s top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, over the flow of immigrants coming across the Mexican border. He agreed with his fellow Republicans that the federal government had not done enough to control the influx.
Chinese ‘border crossers’ with ‘no future in China’ seek new life in LA suburb
Chinese ‘border crossers’ with ‘no future in China’ seek new life in LA suburb
He said that “every single case” of illegal marijuana growing being investigated in Oklahoma had some level of undocumented labour trafficking, “particularly in operations run by Chinese nationals”.
Drummond narrated what he called the “living horror” of two Chinese women investigators had found while executing search warrants related to illegal drug activity by Chinese nationals.
“Mattresses on the floor of their bedroom were littered with condoms, lotions and other unsavory supplies,” he said, adding that the women spoke no English and had been in the US for months but “could not say where they were”.
“They had not been out of the house since their arrival. They simply awoke every day, worked and went back to sleep,” Drummond said.
The hearing comes as Republicans are blocking funding for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders and threatening to force a government shutdown as part of their efforts to “secure” the southern border. Immigration remains one of the top issues for conservative voters ahead of the presidential election on November 5.
In 2023, the US Border Patrol arrested about 2 million migrants at the US-Mexico border. During Donald Trump’s presidency from 2017-2021, the year 2019 saw the most migrant arrests at 852,000.
According to US Customs and Border Protection data, US authorities encountered more than 24,000 Chinese nationals at the US-Mexico border over the 12 months ending in October 2023. Only about 2,000 Chinese came to the southern border in the previous year, the data shows.
People who leave China often are trying to escape persecution or poverty at home, reports say, as the nation struggles to restore a measure of pre-Covid growth.
Republican-led US House votes to open impeachment inquiry into Biden
Republican-led US House votes to open impeachment inquiry into Biden
Drummond cited the execution-style murder of four Chinese nationals at an illegal marijuana farm in Oklahoma in November 2022.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said at the time that close to 80 per cent of the 200 such farms shut down by between 2020 and 2022 were either run or owned by Chinese nationals.
Drummond testified on Wednesday that a “vast majority” of more than 50 “complex, multi-jurisdictional criminal cases” being investigated by Oklahoma’s Organized Crime Task Force, which was established last year, involved Mexican and Chinese drug syndicates.
NORMAN — Oklahoma softball’s transfer portal activity may have been fairly slow developing.
But now, as the portal window nears its end, the Sooners have started having success.
Oklahoma added outfielder Adi Hansen, a standout at the College of Southern Idaho for the last two seasons on Thursday.
Hansen’s announcement, made on Instagram, followed shortly after Middle Tennessee outfielder Macie Harter announced her commitment to the Sooners.
Hansen led the Golden Eagles with a .457 batting average in 186 at bats in 2026, with an eye-popping 82 runs scored and a school-record 62 stolen bases on 67 attempts.
Hansen had 17 games with two or more stolen bases this season and twice had four stolen bases in a game.
Hansen had four triples and 21 RBIs, drawing 23 walks.
She earned NJCAA first-team All-America honors, helping her team finish 43-13 with a NJCAA Division I Juco World Series appearance.
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In 2025, as a freshman, Hansen hit .401 with 36 stolen bases and 62 ruyns scored.
Hansen is a Logan, Utah, product.
Hansen and Harter join a group of outfielders that includes Kai Minor in centerfield and Ella Parker in right field.
The Sooners lost Abby Dayton to graduation and Kasidi Pickering to transfer after the season. Pickering will reportedly transfer to Texas Tech.
Oklahoma finished 52-10 last season, missing the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2015 after falling to Mississippi State in three games in the Norman Super Regional.
The Sooners have a strong incoming recruiting class and return a trio of pitchers — Audrey Lowry, Miali Guachino and Allyssa Parker — as well as experienced hitters Kendall Wells, Gabbie Garcia, Nelly McEnroe-Marinas plus Minor and Ella Parker.
In addition to the departures of Dayton and Pickering, the Sooners also lost pitchers Sydney Berzon and Kierston Deal, first baseman Isabela Emerling, and second baseman Ailana Agbayani to graduation. Outfielder Tia Milloy, pitcher Berkley Zache and utility player Riley Zache also entered the transfer portal.
Oklahoma’s incoming class includes Edmond Santa Fe pitcher Keegan Baker, Lakewood, Calif., infielder Ki’ele Ho-Ching, Mililani, Hawaii, infielder Ori Mailo, Fullerton, Calif., pitcher Malaya Majam-Finch, Katy, Texas, pitcher EK Smith, and Mesa, Ariz., outfilder Payton Westra.
Mailo was with the Sooners this season, redshirting after joining the program a year early.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma City police are investigating an early morning shooting that left one man injured in northeast Oklahoma City.
Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, emergency crews were called to a reported shooting near Kelley and Wilshire Blvd.
Investigators say the shooting occurred between a couple inside the home, adding that the woman shot the man.
However, police say they are trying to determine if the shooting was accidental.
The victim was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
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The woman has been taken into custody for questioning, but it is unknown if she will face charges just yet.
Oklahoma is just three outs away from steamrolling through the right side of the bracket and knocking out Georgia to reach the championship finals.
To prepare, let’s take a look at what arms we should expect for the Sooners just like we did for the North Carolina earlier.
The Sooners have leaned heavily on their freshmen pitching trio in Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski throughout Omaha. The first two went at least seven innings, while Wesloski tossed 5.2 innings on Wednesday. Even though they used relievers LJ Mercurius and Jackson Cleveland in the first two games, neither pitched more than two innings nor allowed a run.
If LJ, who entered for Wesloski on Wednesday, finishes the game, he will have gone 3.1 innings.
That sets up Oklahoma very well to matchup with UNC, which went 3-0 and also hasn’t used many arms up to this point.
If OU does win, expect Rager, Xander Mercurius and Cleveland to be ready to go. Rager, who hasn’t pitched since their first round game against Alabama on Saturday, June 13, would have a full week of rest.
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