XPost: alt.government.abuse, nm.general, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: stoned@voting.dem   
      
   ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State police have destroyed tens of thousands of   
   pounds of marijuana plants at greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico,   
   marking what regulators say is the largest seizure and destruction of   
   cannabis in New Mexico since new possession and cultivation laws took   
   effect in 2021.   
      
   Authorities announced the operation Monday, saying dozens of agents were   
   assigned to eradicate the plants in October. The state Cannabis Control   
   Division had started the process of revoking the license of NNK Equity   
   LLC, having filed a noncompliance order and a default order earlier this   
   year.   
      
   The company was accused of not posting its licenses on site, failing to   
   obtain water rights for cultivation, not having cameras that could monitor   
   certain areas of its operation and violating sanitation and health   
   requirements.   
      
   “The organization involved showed a blatant disregard for the laws of this   
   state and we will prove that once this investigation is over,” New Mexico   
   State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement.   
      
   Jacob Candelaria, an Albuquerque attorney who represents NNK Equity,   
   disputed the state's claims and accused regulators and state police of   
   violating his client's civil rights. He said the state failed to properly   
   serve notice of its intent to revoke the company's license and   
   subsequently denied a request for a hearing on the merits of the case.   
      
   He said clients Irving Lin and Bao Xue speak Mandarin Chinese and have   
   limited ability to understand the written English language. Lin asked for   
   a Chinese translation, but the attorney said regulators did not respond to   
   his request.   
      
   The Cannabis Control Division stated in filings related to the case that   
   it complied with notice and hearing requirements and had afforded the   
   company its due process rights.   
      
   The company plans to ask a state district judge to set aside the order   
   revoking the license and to order state regulators to hold a hearing,   
   Candelaria said. He added that NNK Equity also plans to sue the state for   
   destroying what he said amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars of   
   private property.   
      
   “The idea that law enforcement officers can destroy public property based   
   upon a temporary restraining order — which can be entered without notice   
   to all parties and before a hearing on the evidence — which was the case   
   here, should concern all of us who believe in the Constitution.”   
      
   According to state regulators, NNK Equity was issued a license in December   
   2023 for a marijuana growing operation at a property in Waterflow, a rural   
   area on the edge of the Navajo Nation and just south of the Colorado   
   border. The region also made headlines earlier this year when state   
   regulators cracked down on two other operations and Navajo Nation   
   authorities ended up filing their own charges against two tribal members.   
      
   In the latest case, the Cannabis Control Division conducted a compliance   
   check in June and determined that NNK Equity had exceeded its allotted   
   plant count. The New Mexico State Police Special Investigations Unit was   
   brought in and later found plants at a second location that was not   
   licensed.   
      
   The violations outlined by state regulators also involve transportation   
   and tracking requirements, which include assigning identifying numbers to   
   each plant.   
      
   https://news.yahoo.com/news/company-vows-sue-over-damages-013447105.html   
      
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