Chinese Nationals Among 51 Indicted Over Marijuana Grow Operations In Oklahoma

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Department of Homeland Security investigation has resulted in the indictment of 51 defendants—including 29 Chinese nationals—on 67 counts of conspiracy to manufacture black-market marijuana in Oklahoma for distribution in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, and North Carolina, among other locales.

Oklahoma drug enforcement agent Mike Garcia looks over rows of marijuana plants at an illegal grow facility in Ponca City, Okla, on Dec. 22, 2025. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

The defendants are from California, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. Of the 51 indicted, 23 are fugitives, and 11 of the Chinese defendants have obtained permanent legal residence in the United States.

The April 21 indictment alleges that between March 2025 and April 2026, a network of growers, brokers, transporters, and distributors sent marijuana into the black market in Oklahoma and across the United States.

Mike Garcia, agent in charge of the 8th District Attorney’s Drug Task Force and Major Crime Unit, told The Epoch Times that illicit operators often buy old houses or undeveloped property and add buildings to grow marijuana.

Garcia said it was difficult to stay on top of the operations.

“You have to keep countering the illegal [operations] to balance it out. It’s a hard thing to do,” Garcia said.

According to a Department of Justice news release on April 27, marijuana was allegedly transported from grow operations to stash houses, and then to customers for further distribution.

Defendants reportedly split the proceeds and also concealed those proceeds by transporting large amounts of cash and using businesses to disguise the nature of the funds.

The conspiracy was carried out, in large part, with cell phones, and, as alleged in the indictment, law enforcement intercepted calls of two of the main conspirators, Li Shun Chen, 53, and Ying Wang, 45, both of Oklahoma City, according to the press release.

A federal grand jury handed down the indictment on April 21. The indictment also calls for the forfeiture of properties and assets used to generate or mask proceeds of the black-market transactions, including properties throughout Oklahoma.

A vernal pool polluted with chemicals used for growing illegal marijuana border an agricultural form in Ponca City, Okla., on Dec. 22, 2025. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

“Since 2021, when our agency created Marijuana Enforcement Teams (MET), we’ve proudly worked alongside our federal and state partners to target criminal organizations operating in Oklahoma,” Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Director Donnie Anderson said in the release. “These partnerships have resulted in a dramatic drop in illegal marijuana farms within our state.”

Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana on June 26, 2018, in hopes that a 7 percent excise tax and state and local property taxes would finance education and infrastructure while creating new jobs.

Mark Woodward, public information officer for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, said organized criminals used this as an opportunity to get involved. He told The Epoch Times that up to 85 percent of the illegal grow facilities in Oklahoma have ties to Chinese organized crime.

“They used straw owners because so many of them came here during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “The first thing they wanted to do was try to look legitimate.”

The investigation was led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control along with multiple federal, state, and local agencies.

The case is being prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Allan Stein contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 15:30

StarCloud CEO Says Starship Gives SpaceX Launch Monopoly For Near Decade

The CEO of the startup building data centers for eventual low Earth orbit deployment told Molly O'Shea of the Sourcery podcast that he expects Elon Musk's SpaceX to hold a "near monopoly on launches" over the next five to ten years, driven by Starship's scale, launch cadence, and cost advantage.

Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston told O'Shea:

I'm very hopeful that other launch vehicles will be able to compete with SpaceX, but my general hot take is that SpaceX is going to have a near-monopoly on launch for at least the next five years, maybe ten.

I think Starship is way ahead of any other program, and even like Stokes Space—if their rocket works—their payloads are three tonnes versus 150-tonne payload for Starship. Especially with Gigafactory, so yeah, that's it.

O'Shea asked Johnston about Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, and whether it could challenge SpaceX's launch dominance in the years ahead: 

The problem with Blue Origin's rocket is they don't have a reusable upper stage at the moment, and as I understand, they're not even really trying to build a reusable upper stage.

So if they can get it flying, you're talking about launch costs comparable maybe with Falcon 9, although their quotes we've had are way higher than that.

.@Starcloud_ CEO @PhilipJohnston expects SpaceX to have a "near monopoly on launch" for the next 5–10 years:

"Starship is way ahead of any other program."

"The manufacturing that they're ramping up is insane—like building three Starships per day potentially with their… pic.twitter.com/qGCWPJ3cIh

— sourcery (@sourceryy) April 28, 2026

Musk's SpaceX is gearing up for the largest IPO ever, which could value the rocket company at up to $2 trillion. At this valuation, Musk would likely become the first trillionaire.

The latest data from Bloomberg shows Musk's net worth is around $646 billion. Larry Page of Google trails in the No. 2 spot at $297 billion, with Bezos at No. 3 at $278 billion.

In December, we outlined for readers how to profit from space-based data centers, given that ground-based data centers are being delayed or canceled, alarming the tech bros. This suggests that, with limited to no restrictions on space, space-based data centers will be the next big push - all hinging on the commercialization of Starship.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 15:10

Water-Based Method Recovers 65% Of EV Battery Metals In One Minute At Room Temperature

Authored by Neetika Walter via Interesting Engineering,

Researchers at Rice University have developed a water-based method that recovers valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries in minutes, offering a faster and lower-energy alternative to conventional recycling systems.

The new process targets key battery materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, which are in growing demand as electric vehicle and electronics production expands worldwide.

Battery recycling is becoming increasingly important as mineral supply chains tighten and nations seek to reduce dependence on newly mined materials. But many current recovery methods rely on harsh acids, toxic solvents, or long processing times.

Rice researchers say their new class of aqueous “amino chloride” solutions can extract metals quickly while avoiding many of those drawbacks.

Metals back, fast

“Traditional recycling methods often rely on harsh acids or slow, energy-intensive processes,” said study first author Simon M. King. “What we’ve shown is that you can achieve rapid, high-efficiency metal recovery using a much simpler, water-based system.”

The team focused on hydrometallurgical recycling, in which battery metals are dissolved into a liquid and later separated for reuse. It is considered one of the more scalable approaches, but common solvents can create environmental and cost challenges.

To improve the process, the researchers tested several amino chloride salts as alternative leaching agents. One compound, hydroxylammonium chloride, or HACl, delivered the best results.

In testing, the HACl solution extracted about 65 percent of key battery metals in just one minute at room temperature. Recovery rates climbed above 75 percent for several metals with slightly longer treatment times.

That speed is notable because many recycling systems require elevated temperatures or extended reaction periods, both of which increase energy use and operating costs.

Water beats solvents

“We were surprised by just how fast the reaction occurs, especially without the involvement of high temperatures,” King said. “Within the first minute, we’re already seeing the majority of the metal extraction take place.”

Researchers said replacing traditional organic solvents with water lowered viscosity, allowing molecules to move more freely and accelerate reactions. Water-based chemistry also simplifies waste handling and may reduce environmental risks.

The team used experiments and modeling to understand why the solution performed so well. While acidity and chloride ions help dissolve metals, the researchers found that a built-in redox-active nitrogen center in HACl played a major role.

“While the rapid metal dissolution is very interesting, what is most exciting is that this highlights the generic chemical properties that are the major drivers for efficient leaching,” said Sohini Bhattacharyya.

“That redox capability gives it a major advantage over other similar systems we tested.” After extraction, the recovered metals were reprocessed into new battery materials, demonstrating a closed-loop recycling pathway.

The findings could help shape next-generation battery recycling plants by combining low-toxicity solvents with targeted chemistry that boosts speed and efficiency. With EV battery waste expected to rise sharply in the coming years, faster recovery methods may become increasingly valuable.

The study was published in Small.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:50

Wall Street Reacts To Powell's Last FOMC Meeting

The kneejerk reaction from Wall Street pundits is that the bar for the Federal Reserve to hike rates is still relatively high and there’s no need for the Fed to change its bias or react in a meaningful way: that's the view voiced by SocGen's US Research Head Subadra Rajappa, who said on BBG TV that the "US is in a very good position overall"

Others, such as Deutsche Bank Chief US Economist Luzzetti, said that "the Fed could adopt a more balanced language" while JPMorgan Head of Global Fixed Income Bob Michele notes that "the US economy looks pretty good and can absorb some inflation" adding that "inflation is passing through the system" and so "need to watch if cost-push inflation passes to prices."

Michele also said that he’s reluctant to say this time the economy will stumble given how the economy managed tariffs last year, and believes that the Fed cold remain on hold until end of this year, even as "the bar to hike got lowered a notch."

Below we summarize several views from across Wall Street:

• Katherine Judge at CIBC Capital markets: "Oddly, the statement noted that three members who supported maintaining the target range did not support including an easing bias in the statement, even though the text they were objecting to was not present in the statement."
• Simon Penn, UBS trader: "Hammack, Kashkari and Logan said they didn't support the easing bias. The easing bias itself is reflected in the following sections: "attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate."
• Maria Capurro, Bloomberg Econ: "We won’t know what really drove the dissenters until they release their public statements, but it is worthy to note this is the committee that Kevin Warsh, Trump’s appointee, will now face: one with growing dissents, where at least some officials do want to make it clear a rate hike is on the table"
• Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets: his take is the forward-guidance language as having been interpreted as an easing bias: The relevant language is “In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range” - not clearly biased toward easing, but it has been interpreted as such in the past. 
• Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM: "The dissents could also be about preserving Fed’s independence: One gets the sense that the three dissenters are signaling a willingness to not only protect central bank independence but also the incoming bias towards rate cuts when inflation is clearly heading in the direction that may require rate hikes."
• Nic Puckrin, macro analyst and CEO of Coin Bureau: "The chance that we won’t see a rate cut at all this year has increased to 77%. However, other central banks – notably the BOJ – are already discussing hikes. Most commentators don’t expect hikes from the Fed, yet the central bank could begin running out of options. This doesn’t bode well, because hiking could mean plunging the banking and private credit sectors into crisis. Wall Street banks now hold more US treasuries than at any point since the GFC in 2007 – up 37% from last year to $550bn. If rates rise, this could become a massive liability, while private credit is already under enormous pressure at current rate levels."
• David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation: "Miran is increasingly a lonesome dove. Today’s dissents show the pendulum is swinging away from rate cuts. Inflation is a growing risk as oil soars and the job market remains tight. March’s durable goods orders also confirm the strong economy and remove the need for easing. The AI datacenter boom is making it easier for policy to be far less necessary. Kevin Warsh could be stepping into a difficult spot if he was hoping to deliver rate cuts."

Developing

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:35

Watch Live: Fed Chair Powell's Last Press Conference

With Kevin Warsh having won the backing of the Senate Banking Committee on a 13-11 party-line vote to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, it's pretty much a done deal that this will be Jerome Powell's final press conference as Fed Chair.

And while The Fed took no action - as 100% expected - the question remains whether Powell will lean hawkish (oil crisis means inflation tsunami) or dovish (higher costs drag on economy and need support) despite the most dissents (3 hawkish-er, 1 dovish-er) since 1992...

“The stink of stagflation is in the air,” Senator Elizabeth Warren warned, adding that confirmation of Warsh would help Trump dominate the Fed’s monetary policy.

The combination of Warsh’s calls for a smaller balance sheet, new ways to think about inflation and communication changes put the onus on Warsh to make clear he’ll defend the Fed’s independence, said EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco.

“Taken together, this points to a more centralized, less transparent and potentially more politically-exposed policy framework,” he said.

But all of that is for another day as today is Powell's big finale where he will likely note both the upside risks to inflation and the downside risks to the labor market and growth.

But which way will he lean?

If Powell's final comments mirror those of Daly ( that if policy were left unchanged all year, “that would be a good restraint on inflation, but not so restrictive to hurt the labor market”), markets would read that as very hawkish.

We shall see... for now, the market is not leaning one way or another with zero rate-changes priced in until at least 2027.

Finally, Powell might get asked whether he has decided how long he will stay on at the Fed as a Governor. He will likely respond that he doesn't have anything to add to his comments from the March press conference.

Watch Fed Chair Powell's final press conference live here (due to start at 1400ET):

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:25

Acting AG Blanche Denies Trump Directed James Comey Prosecution

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on April 29 said that President Donald Trump did not order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file more charges against former FBI Director James Comey over a social media post that he made last year.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (L) speaks alongside FBI Director Kash Patel during a press conference about the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, at the Justice Department in Washington on April 27, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“Of course not, absolutely, positively not,” Blanche told “CBS Mornings” when he asked whether the president directed him to pursue new charges against Comey. “This is something that has been investigated for nearly a year now, and the results of that investigation is that a grand jury returned an indictment.”

On Tuesday, a grand jury returned an indictment against Comey over an Instagram post he made in May 2025 with a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say “86 47.” Federal prosecutors said it was a threat to assassinate Trump. Comey later deleted the post and said that he thought the sell arrangement was a political message, not a call to violence.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey wrote at the time.

The criminal case is the second in months against Comey. A separate and unrelated indictment against the former FBI director was dismissed in late 2025 after a court ruled that the U.S. attorney who brought the charges was appointed in an unlawful manner.

Prosecutors said in a news release Tuesday of the new charge that it was a message that a “reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”

Comey was charged with threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. He could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.

“If anybody in this country thinks—especially given what happened over the past couple of years with respect to President Trump—that it is okay for anybody to threaten the president of the United States ... and then have the media or others say, well that’s not serious, then we have a bigger problem than I even imagined in this country,” Blanche told CBS on April 29.

The acting attorney general added that “anybody who tries to put forward some narrative that this is just about seashells or something to the contrary is missing the point,” stressing, “You cannot threaten the president of the United States.”

Comey was fired by Trump months into the president’s first term, and the two men have openly feuded ever since. Blanche, a former deputy attorney general who previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney, was elevated earlier this month to replace Pam Bondi, the first attorney general of Trump’s second term in office.

Responding to the new indictment, Comey released a video through Substack on April 28 in which he denied any wrongdoing.

“Well, they’re back. This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina Beach a year ago, and this won’t be the end of it. But nothing has changed with me. I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go,” he said in the video.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:20

Your Bank Is Becoming A Casino: River CEO Frames Bitcoin As The Alternative

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine,

Bitcoin 2026 speaker Alex Leishman used his Nakamoto Stage talk, titled “We’re Not Fixing Money to Build More Casinos,” to deliver a sharp warning that modern finance is drifting toward a gambling model and away from basic banking. 

Leishman, CEO of River, said the American dream feels out of reach for many people as housing costs rise, student debt lingers, and wages lag, and argued that this pressure helps explain why prediction markets and betting features are spreading through mainstream financial apps. 

In his view, a system that once promised stable savings now pushes people toward risk if they want a shot at financial freedom.

Leishman opened by describing a growing belief that “more and more people are coming to the conclusion” that they need to gamble to get ahead. He said finance and entertainment have merged on the phone screen, with products that look like investing tools but function like casinos. 

He pointed to platforms that promote constant trading and outcome bets, and said this environment tells users that the safe path of saving no longer works, only high‑risk wagers do. The result, he argued, is a landscape in which households face a choice between stagnation and speculative bets framed as empowerment.

Leishman contrasted today’s market with an earlier era in which a bank was a place that kept money safe. Banking and gambling were separate activities, he said, governed by different norms and expectations. Prediction markets, he argued, have given financial institutions a rationale to fold sports betting and event wagers into apps that once focused on savings and investing. 

That change, he said, blurs lines for users who open a finance app and find a casino.

Gambling is correlated with stress, debt distress

Leishman linked this trend to research that shows gambling correlates with higher levels of debt distress and personal bankruptcy. He said gambling “isn’t good for society” and argued that the rapid spread of online betting should concern policymakers and industry leaders. 

In the past, a person had to walk into a casino to place a bet; now, he said, anyone with a phone can gamble from the couch or the checkout line. The distance between everyday life and high‑risk wagering has collapsed into a few taps on an app, with push notifications and promotions designed to keep people engaged.

He accused parts of the crypto and fintech sector of not being honest about this direction. The industry “shouldn’t lie” about what it is building, he said, because many products marketed as tools for financial freedom depend on user losses and trading churn. 

He described two futures: one in which traditional banks continue to grow rich off customer deposits while providing little yield or transparency, and another in which fintech firms double down on prediction markets and sports betting as core revenue lines. In both cases, he argued, ordinary customers lose: they either watch their savings erode in low‑yield accounts or face rising odds of financial harm on betting‑style platforms.

Bitcoin banks can grow your money without gambling

As an alternative, Leishman framed bitcoin banking as a third path. He said bitcoin banks can allow wealth generation without gambling by pairing sound money with interest on cash and bitcoin balances.

“50 countries in the last 5 years have increased their regulatory friendliness to Bitcoin,” Leishman said.

In that model, clients can succeed through saving and prudent risk, not through repeated wagers on short‑term events. He pointed to growing institutional and sovereign interest in holding bitcoin as a sign that the asset is maturing into a reserve instrument. 

From his perspective, banks that integrate bitcoin in a conservative, savings‑focused way can oppose both the low‑yield status quo and the casino trend in fintech.

Leishman closed with a prediction that “all institutions will want to become bitcoin banks” as the asset gains broader acceptance. He argued that banks and fintech firms that align with bitcoin, proof‑of‑reserves, and straightforward savings products will stand apart from casino‑like competitors that depend on user losses. 

In his telling, the real promise of a “financial revolution” is not more ways to gamble from a phone, but a system in which money holds its value, deposits are verifiable, and people can pursue financial freedom without turning their lives into a series of bets.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 13:50