New Mexico State Police destroyed more than 170,000 pounds of marijuana grown by a cultivation licensee suspected of illicit cannabis operations and human trafficking in at least three states.
Irving Lin, 73, is the partner of Dineh Benally, a Navajo Nation member who had his own businesses shut down by the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department’s Cannabis Control Division (CCD) in December. The pair have been under investigation since at least 2020 and accused of running illegal hemp and marijuana operations in multiple states.
Robert Hart, director of the NMSP’s Organized Crime Commission, said a criminal complaint has been submitted to the Eleventh Judicial District Attorney’s Office and charges are expected against Lin.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Chinese nationals are seeking a summary judgement against Lin in a human trafficking lawsuit filed in the First Judicial District Court of Santa Fe County, N.M.
The CCD began its investigation into Lin in June, when officers did a compliance check on his licensed business, NNK Equity, located at 23 Road 6940 in Waterflow, N.M.
Compliance offers allegedly found numerous violations including lack of water rights, lack of sanitation and health requirements, unsafe storage of combustible waste, unsafe storage of chemicals, and failure to comply with track and trace requirements, according to a Notice of Contemplated Action in July.
CCD then learned that Lin was allegedly growing cannabis at another unlicensed site, 3658 U.S. 64 in Waterflow, a 90-acre property that was leased to him, according to a NMSP statement. After neither Lin nor his NNK Equity partner Bao Xue responded to the July notice, the CCD revoked NNK Equity’s licenses on Aug. 7.
The investigation did not stop there. State police served a search warrant on the properties on Aug. 28 and confiscated some evidence, but the officers didn’t have a legal basis to take all the property, Hart said. The CCD in September obtained a temporary restraining order against NNK Equity to cease all cannabis production. On Oct. 15, the court extended the TRO and allowed for the destruction of plants.
On Oct. 16, approximately 50 state police officers and evidence technicians raided both properties, and with the assistance of the Department of Transportation, buried 170,000 pounds of cannabis on the leased property. Hart said the property owner gave permission and has been cooperative with the investigation.
“Collaboration was key during this recent operation targeting illicit cannabis production,” said NMSP Chief Troy Weisler in the statement. “The organization involved showed a blatant disregard for the laws of this state and we will prove that once this investigation is over.”
Hart added, “I think the CCD did a great job. They followed all the processes and procedures.”
Lin’s attorney, Jacob Candelaria, has reportedly said they will sue the state for the destruction of the plants. He also claims Lin, a Taiwan national, doesn’t speak English well and should have an interpreter.
However, Hart said he’s seen legal documents in English signed by Lin. Candelaria did not respond to emails and a phone message seeking comment.
A court hearing to make the TRO permanent is scheduled for Dec. 9.
Human trafficking case continues
Meanwhile, attorneys representing 15 Chinese nationals who have sued Lin, Benally and other associates for human trafficking, RICO and other claims are seeking a summary judgement against Lin because he hasn’t responded to the complaint filed in September 2023.
The complaint alleges that Lin, as secretary and director for the company Hemp Biotechnology Inc., personally recruited Chinese investors and workers in 2020. He drove workers to farms in Shiprock, N.M., within the Navajo Nation, until those operations were shut down. Then they moved to Benally’s businesses in Farmington.
At the farms, the plaintiffs alleged grueling working conditions including being kicked, cursed at and barely fed, working 14-hour days without pay.
“Lin publicly acknowledged that virtually all of the cannabis being grown on the Navajo Nation was 1.4 or 1.5 percent THC. Lin was aware of the labor situation in the operations, telling the media that over 1,000 workers were engaged in the operation,” says a motion for judgement by default filed Oct. 30.
Searchlight New Mexico interviewed Lin in a December 2020 investigative news report that detailed his cannabis operations in New Mexico and other states.
During a hearing on Oct. 31, Benally tried to have the allegations against him dismissed under tribal sovereignty arguments, but the judge denied his motion, said attorney Aaron Halegua, who represents the plaintiffs, in an email.
Law enforcement’s limits
Lin has also been involved in large enforcement operations in Oklahoma and California in 2022. He was arrested in Operation Hammer Strike in southern California. That case remains pending, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.
In January, the Navajo Nation Office of the Attorney General filed charges against Benally and another partner, Farley Blue-Eyes, for allegedly operating a “massive high-grade marijuana operation” in and around Shiprock in 2020. Chief Prosecutor Vernon L. Jackson Sr. did not respond to repeated requests for comment or case status.
Hart declined to comment on Benally.
Despite all the allegations and investigations, Lin remains free, which Hart says is “extremely” frustrating. New Mexico law limitations also allowed the men to continue setting up shop.
While Benally was under investigation by state and federal authorities, the CCD issued him two licenses for locations in Waterflow and Estancia. They were revoked Dec. 26, 2023.
Two days later, the CCD issued a dispensary license to NNK Equity, according to the CRB Monitor licensing database, but it did not engage in any retail sales. A vertically integrated parent license was issued Dec. 21, according to NMRLD spokeswoman Andrea Brown.
At the time, state law didn’t allow the CCD to deny or revoke a license if the controlling person was under investigation, only if they had been convicted of an offense that is substantially related to holding a cannabis license, Brown said.
While the CCD was aware of Lin’s ties to other cannabis-related investigations, “to the CCD’s knowledge, Mr. Lin had not been convicted of a crime and being the subject of an investigation was not grounds for denial of licensure at the time NNK Equity, LLC was issued a license,” she said in an email.
That’s changed. A new law signed by the governor in March that became effective July 1 allows the department to deny a license to a controlling person or applicant who is “pending investigation or a felony indictment” for crimes including fraud, deceit, embezzlement, or involving illegal cannabis products.
It also allows them to deny a license to someone under investigation or indictment for “employing or otherwise using a person younger than eighteen years of age or a person of any age who is a victim of trafficking, forced labor or other exploitation to produce, manufacture, transport or sell cannabis or a controlled substance.”
Hart said that when officers visited the properties, there were workers who appeared to be possible trafficking victims. However, “We didn’t have anything to charge under the statute, but that’s because of the limits of the law.”
He said the state police department has been actively trying to change the law to go after human traffickers. “It’s a big priority for us,” he said.
“The changes made to the CRA [Cannabis Regulation Act] by SB 6 enhance the CCD’s authority to deny or revoke licenses by allowing consideration of additional factors, such as whether a licensee or applicant is subject to a pending investigation or felony indictment for specific crimes,” Brown said. “However, this expanded authority comes with a responsibility for the CCD to carefully investigate and properly document the presence of such factors.”
She said the CCD remains committed to ensuring that all licensing decisions are based on a fair and thorough review of each case. “Whether this results in an increase in license revocations will depend on the specific circumstances of each case and the outcomes of the CCD’s investigations,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, state legislators are reportedly aiming to introduce legislation next year to give the CCD more enforcement authority. A bill to create the Cannabis Compliance Bureau, which would have given the department the power to seize and destroy illegal cannabis, died last legislative session.
