New Mexico regulators revoke the licenses of 2 marijuana grow operations and levies $2M in fines

New Mexico marijuana regulators have revoked the licenses of two growing operations for numerous violations and have levied a fine of $1 million against each business

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico marijuana regulators on Tuesday revoked the licenses of two growing operations in a rural county for numerous violations and have levied a $1 million fine against each business.

One of the businesses — Native American Agricultural Development Co. — is connected to a Navajo businessman whose cannabis farming operations in northwestern New Mexico were raided by federal authorities in 2020. The Navajo Department of Justice also sued Dineh Benally, leading to a court order halting those operations.

A group of Chinese immigrant workers sued Benally and his associates — and claimed they were lured to northern New Mexico and forced to work long hours illegally trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation, where growing the plant is illegal.

In the notice made public Tuesday by New Mexico's Cannabis Control Division, Native American Agricultural Development was accused of exceeding the state's plant count limits, of not tracking and tracing its inventory, and for creating unsafe conditions.

An email message seeking comment on the allegations was not immediately returned by Benally. David Jordan, an attorney who represented him in the earlier case, did not return a phone message Tuesday.