Illicit cannabis growers federally charged after sidestepping consequences since 2020

Federal agents say a Navajo Nation man and his father joined forces with a California man to run illicit cannabis farms, including on tribal lands, by tapping into an existing river, discharging chemicals and using Chinese workers “with slave wages and conditions.”

The trio has been on law enforcement’s radar since 2020, according to prosecutors, and has evaded repercussions despite a federal raid that year, a subsequent restraining order issued by a judge and the state revoking their cannabis growing license and imposing a $1 million fine.

That ended on Jan. 23 when Dineh Benally, 48, his father Donald Benally, 74, and Irving Rea Yui Lin, 73, were arrested, and federal agents raided two cannabis farms in Estancia and Benally’s home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Agents say they seized 8,500 pounds of cannabis, $35,000 in cash, illegal pesticides, more than an ounce of methamphetamine, two guns and a bulletproof vest.

Agents also identified 10 Chinese workers at the farms, who were “triaged, provided warm clothing, and given any assistance needed.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office would say whether any of the workers were transferred to the custody of immigration agents or released.

Dineh Benally, Donald Benally and Yui Lin, of California, are each charged with conspiracy, manufacture and possession with intent to distribute 1,000 kilograms and more of marijuana, maintaining a drug-involved premises and knowingly discharging of a pollutant without a permit. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Dineh Benally’s attorney did not respond to a message for comment. Donald Benally’s attorney declined to comment.

Lin denied the charges, telling The Associated Press on Friday that he was not involved in the business and only served as an interpreter for immigrant workers.

In a statement, the Navajo Division of Public Safety said the charges marked “a good day for the Diné people.”

“Many Diné farmlands were destroyed and its fresh water polluted with pesticides, creating an imbalance and disharmony for the Diné people and its land. The disruption occurred when the people’s cornfields were replaced with marijuana fields and its yellow corn pollen way of life was trampled on by greed,” the statement said. “... The Navajo Division of Public Safety is happy for the Diné people that the individuals responsible for the disruption have finally been caught.”

For Dineh Benally, the recent raid may have come with a sense of déjà vu.

In November 2020, law enforcement seized 60,000 pounds of cannabis and 260,000 plants from 25 illicit farms “operated and controlled” by the trio around Shiprock.

Tribal prosecutors told The Associated Press in January 2024 that Dineh Benally and a farmer would be officially charged within the month.

Tessa DuBerry, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the Navajo Nation charged Dineh Benally in 2023 with four counts of possession and sale of controlled of substance. Court records for the Navajo Nation are not publicly accessible.

“We do not know where that case stands,” DuBerry said.

No charges were filed against Benally in U.S. District Court until now, according to court records. In the meantime, the trio kept on growing.

At least one of the illicit grow sites in Estancia was known about for a year, as state regulators rescinded Benally’s license at the farm in January 2024 — saying Native American Agricultural Development Co., the company tied to Benally, had committed numerous violations at the Torrance County operation and handed down a $1 million fine.

Federal prosecutors filed a motion to detain Dineh and Donald Benally, saying “this multiheaded pestilence has wrought disorder throughout New Mexico and across the United States for far too long.” Prosecutors said no pretrial release conditions “can be fashioned to prevent what courts and law enforcement have previously failed to stop during the last five years.”

The motion states, “Neither tribal prosecutions, nor regulatory fines, nor enforcement actions have been able to stem the flood of criminal activity committed by Defendants. The United States will now address the problem. And that begins with detention of all Defendants.”

In the 2020 illicit operation, Dineh Benally used 400 acres of farmland along the San Juan River and got funding from Chinese investors based out of state and abroad, according to the motion. Benally and his accomplices used Chinese workers “akin to slave labor” and as drug mules to deliver drugs outside New Mexico.

Prosecutors say the trio drilled illegal wells to tap the river and built a dam to irrigate the farms with its water.

“This conduct demonstrates a brazen disregard for the rule of law, human welfare, and tribal sovereignty. To adequately capture what occurred on those farms, one must use absolutes: unacceptable and dangerous to society,” according to the motion.

But prosecutors say after authorities dismantled that farm and the Navajo Nation won an injunction against Benally to stop growing on tribal lands, he turned his focus to Estancia and two more farms.

“Although this operation may have initially been authorized by the State of New Mexico, or at least one farm was so authorized, Defendant quickly exploded the grow beyond the bounds of reason — and the law,” the motion states. This farm soon caught the attention of state officials, who took away Dineh Benally’s license and fined him $1 million.

Prosecutors say the fine did not stop Benally, who kept growing “while breaking other laws to further the operation,” and court records show Benally was charged in November for allegedly stealing more than $8,000 in electricity to power one of the farms.

New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler, whose agency assisted in the investigation and seizure, said the illicit growers were “an ongoing problem for New Mexico.”

“They thought they were untouchable, but they were mistaken,” he said in a statement.