Cannabis firms sue feds over seized shipments

Drivers escorting edibles, pre-rolls and other cannabis products that are legal under New Mexico law say their loads and sometimes their personal belongings are being hijacked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at checkpoints.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, but a group of eight state-licensed cannabis businesses have sued two federal agencies alleging their constitutional rights have been violated in the enforcement at New Mexico’s Border Patrol checkpoints outside Las Cruces.

They say their marijuana products are being confiscated, and employees stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents are being treated like criminals though they are never charged with a crime, the lawsuit states.

Several delivery drivers have had their vehicles seized, were fingerprinted, and their names entered into a federal database for racketeering and international drug trafficking, states the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces.

In some cases, their seized cannabis, along with their profits, have gone up in smoke after being confiscated, with damages exceeding $1 million. And the “summary seizures are ongoing and becoming more frequent.”

“Plaintiffs have sustained damages as a direct and proximate result of Defendants violation of their Fifth Amendment rights, including, but not limited to, lost profits, interrupted business expectations, and interference with Plaintiffs’ ability to comply with New Mexico law,” states the lawsuit filed by the businesses that are based predominately in the Las Cruces area.

The lawsuit is filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which had no comment about the allegations on Thursday. Asked about its current policy on confiscating cannabis at checkpoints, a spokesman for the CPB referred the question to Homeland Security, which didn’t comment.

The plaintiffs are Mesilla Valley Extracts LLC; Royal Cannabis LLC; Super Farm LLC, doing business as Smokey Road Farms; Impact Farms LLC; Chadcor Holdings NM LLC, doing business as Top Crop Cannabis LLC, Mylars LLC, Rollin Love LLC; and Desert Peaks Farm. Most are growers and manufacturers of cannabis and related products.

But recreational cannabis is now legal in 24 states, including New Mexico, and in Washington, D.C. Another 17 states have legalized the use of cannabis for medical purposes, while four states haven’t decriminalized or legalized cannabis in some form, the lawsuit states.

“Upon information and belief, New Mexico is the only border state where CHP is engaged in this practice of summarily seizing, and ultimately destroying, state-legal cannabis products,” states the lawsuit.

The cannabis firms’ lawsuit asks a federal judge to compel the federal agencies to provide all necessary paperwork and documentation accounting for all of the plaintiffs’ property seized by Customs and Border Protection agents. They also want the return of all property seized or its equivalent wholesale/retail value, and ask that the agencies provide the companies with a process for challenging the legality of any future seizures.

“Unchecked by any oversight or actual prosecution of any alleged federal crimes, CBP continues to escalate its campaign to summarily seize and forfeit New Mexico state-legal cannabis product,” according to the lawsuit.

“In the most recent seizures, CBP has become increasingly aggressive, seizing not only the state-legal cannabis products, but also the vehicles used in the Plaintiffs’ state-legal businesses to transport the state-legal cannabis products to its state-legal customers and business partners and detaining Plaintiffs’ employees under increasingly harsh conditions without ever charging them with a crime.”

One Royal Cannabis employee transporting about $5,992 worth of state-legal cannabis beverages in the trunk of her personal vehicle was stopped on Aug. 28 at a patrol station on U.S. 54 South in Alamogordo. Agents there confiscated her white Audi Q3, seized the products, and attempted to search her for weapons in front of other traffic waiting to pass through the checkpoint, the lawsuit alleges.

CBP searched her inside a holding facility, fingerprinted her and held her in a holding area while she was deprived of her cellphone and other belongings “and subjected her to unsanitary conditions,” the lawsuit states. She was allowed one phone call to secure a ride and was moved to a locked cell despite the fact that federal authorities were not charging her with any crime.

She wasn’t allowed to leave until she was picked up, and when she was released, she asked for the names and badge numbers of the CBP agents involved. She was told their names would be on paperwork later sent to her. But no names were included on the documents. Her Audi Q3 was placed under seizure proceedings for violation of United States law.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico doesn’t prosecute those in possession of marijuana, the lawsuit asserts.

“Summarily seizing Plaintiff’s products, cash and other property without providing any process is also contrary to the Federal Government’s policy of refusing to prosecute state legal cannabis operations for violations of criminal federal criminal offenses related to cannabis, including the CSA,” the lawsuit states.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has voiced concerns about the cannabis seizures and disruptions to regulated markets and contacted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the issue.

Since New Mexico legalized marijuana for recreational use two years ago, authorized cannabis sales in the state have exceeded $1 billion and licensees are subject to state regulation.

Five checkpoints are set up within 100 miles into the interior of New Mexico. The primary goals are to interdict narcotics and check the immigration status of travelers.