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PAWHUSKA — The contentious ordeal surrounding the seizure of a massive shipment of hemp and the arrests of its transporters came to a quiet conclusion Tuesday when the entire case was dismissed a day earlier than planned.

Prosecutors dropped the marijuana-trafficking charges against Andrew Ross and David Dirksen on Tuesday, seven months after the business partners were charged. Had they been convicted, they faced 15 years to life in prison.

A court appearance set for Wednesday morning didn’t take place despite a motion filed a month ago by the buyers to release some or all of the confiscated hemp.

Pawhuska police pulled over a tractor-trailer for allegedly failing to stop at a traffic light about 3 a.m. Jan. 9. The rig’s two drivers, as well as its security detail in a separate vehicle, were arrested several hours later despite the two security officers’ attempts to convince law officers that the cargo was legal industrial hemp.

Sarah Stewart, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokeswoman, said Tuesday that there still isn’t a field test to tell hemp from marijuana.

“Right now, if our troopers encounter someone carrying large amounts of what they claim to be industrial hemp, our suspicion alone is not enough for probable cause to make an arrest,” Stewart said.